Most of the work of doctors—and particularly public health doctors—is unglamorous. They tend to appear in the world's hot spots once the soldiers have blasted their way through and the cameras are gone.

We experienced round the clock media coverage of the Iraq war, but now it's become boring and we see and hear little. Yet the health problems in Iraq are severe, says the report from Owen Dyer (p 1107). “The three most urgent problems for health in Iraq today are security, security, and security,” says Ghulam Popal, the World Health Organization's representative in Baghdad. Hospitals are being offered “protection” …