Doctors in the southern Iraqi city of Basra are worried that diseases like cholera and diarrhoea might spread through the city's unuseable water supply.
Basra's canals are blocked by piles of rubbish and its sanitation system has collapsed.
The Norwegian Refugee Council has warned that nearly 280,000 children could be affected by diarrhoea and rashes.
Al Jazeera's Rob Matheson reports.
