MER Article

The Long Shadow of Iraq’s Cancer Epidemic and COVID-19

The epidemic of cancer in Iraq that emerged after the 1991 Gulf War has afflicted nearly every family. In response to a health care system devastated by sanctions and war, Iraqis acquired decades of experience piecing together novel mechanisms for obtaining treatment. The tendency of families to rel

Mac Skelton • 16 min read

Covid-19 Coverage

The Long Shadow of Iraq’s Cancer Epidemic and COVID-19

The epidemic of cancer in Iraq that emerged after the 1991 Gulf War has afflicted nearly every family. In response to a health care system devastated by sanctions and war, Iraqis acquired decades of experience piecing together novel mechanisms for obtaining treatment. The tendency of families to rel

Mac Skelton • 16 min read

MER Article

Community Participation and Environmental Change

Cairo -- a city home to upwards of 14 million inhabitants -- is known to be one of the most polluted cities in the world. Although measures of pollutants in some places in Cairo exceed internationally recognized standards, popular collective action organized around environmental issues is rare. The

Inas Tewfik • 6 min read

MER Article

Environmental Conditions in Cairo

In a 1994 assesment of environmental health risks prepared for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), American and Egyptian experts identified three leading environmental health risks for residents of Cairo: particulate matter air pollution, lead and microbiological diseases from envir

Sally Ethelston • 3 min read

MER Article

Pollution, Popular Perceptions and Grassroots Environmental Activism

An increase in media attention paid to environmental pollution, and a 1994 USAID report on environmental risk assessment in Cairo, [1] reflect and have engendered a growing concern for the environment in Cairo. While grassroots political action is rare, [2] there is an awareness among the general po

Sohair Mehanna, Nicholas Hopkins • 9 min read