There has been a lot of news coming out of Iraq in recent decades, but most of it ignores the situation for people on the ground: ordinary men, women and children who continue trying to live their lives in spite of wars, economic sanctions, violence, and social, political and cultural collapse. The challenges of maintaining and sustaining health in an environment where everything-the human spirit, education and health care systems and the health-sustaining infrastructures of housing, water purification and the electric grid-is damaged or broken are enormous.
Keywords: Iraq; cancer; children; social determinants of health.