By REBECCA TORR - HOPE filled the air as 50 Iraqi children arrived in Bahrain yesterday for crucial medical treatment.

The eight to 15-year-olds have been brought here to receive treatment for burns, broken bones, heart problems and cancers, at Salmaniya Medical Complex and BDF Hospital.

The children, each accompanied by one relative, arrived on a United Nations-chartered plane yesterday afternoon, with four Iraqi doctors.

They were greeted by Assistant Under-Secretary for Hospitals Dr Abdulhai Al Awadi, Iraqi Embassy Minister Plenipotentiary Ahmed Agha and other officials.

The expense is being shouldered by His Majesty King Hamad, who agreed to support the initiative following an appeal by Iraqi singer Naseer Shamma, during a visit to Bahrain in July.

Mr Shamma is president of the Council of Cultural Care for Children in Iraq, which was set up to help children caught up in the conflict.

The children's treatment is being co-ordinated by the health ministries of Bahrain and Iraq and a team from the Iraqi Embassy is helping to assist with family needs during their stay.

They will be here for around three months, depending on the treatment needed.

Health Ministry public and international relations director Adel Ali Abdulla said around 20 per cent of the children were war casualties, who had suffered third degree burns.

He said another 20pc had heart problems, 15pc were hearing impaired and the rest either had neurological problems, bone deformities or cancer.

"We've been preparing for the past two months. We have a committee here and one in Iraq which have been co-ordinating the treatments," said Mr Abdulla.

"The patients will be here between a month and three months depending on their needs.

"It is being funded by the Royal Court and we thank the King for his kind gesture.

"This is not the first initiative, but the third one and over the last three years 400-500 Iraqis have been treated."

The GDN spoke to parents of sick children as they arrived in Bahrain yesterday and each expressed their gratitude to the King for helping them out of their desperate situations.

Karran Farhan Mohammed told the story of her 16-year-old daughter Rafl, who had suffered constant head and neck pain for the past three years, because of a routine operation to remove her tonsils that went wrong.

"The bones and fibres in her neck have been damaged and they have failed to cure it in Iraq," Ms Mohammed said through a translator.

"She had an operation to remove her tonsils, which left her with terrible pain in her eyes and head and tingling in her arm.

"The doctors here will do a check-up first and decide what to do.

"I have come with full hope because in Iraq there is no hospital for the treatment of such an operation.

"For the last few years my daughter has been suffering and I have been trying to find medication for her, I thank His Majesty King Hamad for his generosity and bringing us here."

Adel Fahed is hoping doctors in Bahrain will be able to treat his eight-year-old son Sajjad Adel of a skin disease that has left him in pain and he is unable to use his fingers.

"He has had this skin disease since birth and I have brought him here for rehabilitation. He can't use his fingers because the skin has grown and there is no treatment for this in Iraq," Mr Fahed told the GDN through a translator.

"My son is in a lot of pain, his skin keeps falling and psychologically it is difficult."

War casualty Mohammed Muksan, six, has been left unable to walk.

He has been brought to Bahrain by his father Wasad Al Kum for special medical treatment which he hopes will at least be able to rehabilitate him.

Another victim of war is Huda Mohammed, 13, who has been brought by her father Ali Abbas for plastic surgery on third degree burns that were caused by a bomb exposition.

Mr Agha said the decision to bring Iraqi patients for treatment in Bahrain had given hope to so many people.

He thanked the King and the people of Bahrain for their generosity, who, he said, had always shown their support to Iraq.

"This is something very noble and new to this part of the world, that a King thinks of children and brings them for treatment during Ramadan. This I've only seen in Europe before," noted Mr Agha.

"It's such a touching issue to bring children who need medical treatment.

"When I heard of the schedule, special care, catering and accommodation they had prepared I was really amazed and was so proud to serve them in Bahrain."

Mr Agha said medical treatment was available in Iraq, but because of terrorist attacks and sabotage, many top doctors had fled the country.

Hospitals, he said, also had very limited medical resources because they had been under constant attack for the last two to three years and people were also scared to travel.

"A journey from your house to hospital is like going into a war zone, so some people prefer to die at home, than kill others that travel with them on the way," Mr Agha told the GDN.

"Terrorists attack hospitals, orphanages and schools, so it is very dangerous.

"The international community is working very hard and Bahrain's gesture is a great sign that things in Iraq will change.

"It's a very hopeful and positive step."
Source: Gulf Daily News