Iraq asked the World Health Organization on Saturday to help free medicine and equipment to combat hepatitis, which Iraq claims contributed to the deaths of some children since U.N. trade sanctions began. The official Iraqi News Agency said a national committee against hepatitis sent a telegram saying the sanctions halted imports of ``the equipment and special tools to discover the hepatitis B virus and also the vaccine against it.'' The report, monitored in Nicosia, did not refer to a specific outbreak or epidemic, but said the sickness ``is considered a big health problem in Iraq, especially among children.'' Without providing figures on hepatitis cases, the report said the committee told officials at the Geneva-based U.N. agency that 2,042 children under 5 years old have died since the embargo began in August. Iraq blamed the deaths on shortages of baby food and medicine, and claimed many of those who died suffered from hepatitis. The embargo is meant to retaliate for Iraq's Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait. Hepatitis B is one of five strains of the blood virus that can be prevented by vaccine. Serious cases of hepatitis can lead to liver problems. ``The committee called in the telegram on the World Health Organization to interfere immediately to release the food and medicine seige and release imported medicine, vaccine, equipment and tools to control the hepititis virus in Iraq,'' the news agency said. Western diplomats in Baghdad say Iraq has received 120 tons of medicine from humanitarian groups worldwide since mid-October. Most of the shipments were in exchange for Western hostages trapped by the Persian Gulf crisis. President Saddam Hussein decided Dec. 6 to free all foreigners. Iraq's Red Crescent, the Islamic equivalent of the Red Cross, announced recently it had received 22 tons of medical supplies from Italy and another 28 tons from the U.N. Children's Fund. But Irqai officials have said acute shortages exist in some areas, such as for polio vaccine and drugs to treat heart ailments.
