Iranian casualties during the eight years of Iraq-Iran conflict.

War is one of the critical determinants of health status of populations in many parts of the world. Armed con-fl ict has been a major cause of deaths and morbidity throughout the history. 3 In the 25 confl icts during the 20 th century, 72 million deaths were confl ict-related and civilians were included in nearly half of the deaths during the armed confl icts from 1987 to1997. Two million children were killed and an additional four to fi ve million children were seriously injured. 2 In terms of losses of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), war was ranked the 16 th by World Health Organization (WHO) in the global burden of disease in 1990 and it is expected to be ranked in the eighth position by the year 2020. 5 War has a great impact on populations both directly and indirectly, and sometimes indirect consequences of war may occur several years after a confl ict has ended. The indirect consequences of wars which may increase susceptibility to illness include: refugees, internally displaced individuals, communicable diseases, psychological distress, food insecurity, crowding, poor access to water and the last but not the least sanitation. Injuries from fi rearms, anti-personnel land mines, interpersonal violence, and disabilities are likely to require long-term health care and may be costly. 6 The imposed Iraq-Iran war which began in 1980 and lasted until 1988 was one of the longest military confl icts in the 20th century and extended beyond 1,200 km of the western and southwestern Iranian borders. The war caused hundreds of thousands deaths, injured and displaced millions, and caused billions of dollars in destruction. In Iran, two organizations – The Foundation of Martyrs Affairs (FMA) and The Janbazan Affairs Organization (JAO) – have been the sole responsible for providing facilities to the victims of the war in Iran and war victims are categorized into four groups: killed, injured, prisoner of war and missing individuals. The exact number of injured persons during the eight years of Iraq-Iran confl ict is not available, but according to JAO report, 398,587 individuals sustained injuries that required prolonged medical and health care following primary treatment. Of them, 52,195 (13%) were injured due to the exposure to chemical warfare agents such as mustard gas or nerve agents. Due to delayed manifestation of symptoms in chemical agent exposure, the number of Iranian chemical warfare victims will increase in the future. In addition, …