Gilbert Burnham and his Iraqi and US colleagues respond to criticisms of their study that estimated 654 965 Iraqi deaths between March, 2003, and July, 2006 in the Correspondence section of this week's Lancet.
In an accompanying Editorial The Lancet comments: "By highlighting indirect post-invasion mortality not measured by other estimates, Burnham and colleagues give voice to thousands of dead Iraqis and show that damage to services that enable public health, such as water, sewers, electricity, and access to hospitals can be just as deadly as car bombs. The Iraqi government and its allies would do well to focus on this infrastructure and on services that promote human dignity and health. Such a commitment to the long-term welfare of the Iraqi people, rather than to short-term political goals, would help to emphasise that health-care workers and other citizens and their families have a stake in building a secure Iraq."
This week's issue also features an interview with Gilbert Burnham (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA). See Lunch with The Lancet.
Journal
The Lancet