The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has released an update on its latest aid appeal and recent activities in Iraq, writing that:

As a result of the long lasting violence, instability, economical hardship and difficult security conditions in Iraq, millions of people are in need of emergency assistance according to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The figure includes people who are socially vulnerable and in need of humanitarian assistance; displaced people inside Iraq; and externally displaced Iraqis in neighboring countries, mainly Syria and Jordan, as well as in the Gulf countries, Egypt and Lebanon.

Over the years, the countrywide health service system has been severely handicapped by...