Financial crisis puts Iraq’s healthcare system at risk
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq’s healthcare sector could face a crisis that would become difficult to contain if the country’s financial problems persist, the head of Parliament’s Health and Anti-Narcotics Committee warned on Wednesday.
Adila Hamoud called on the Health Ministry to prioritize maintaining a minimum level of healthcare services and establish a permanent crisis team involving ministry departments and health directorates.
She also urged the ministry to press the government to release funds allocated for medicines and medical supplies for patients with cancer, blood and heart diseases, and kidney failure, as well as emergency supplies and vaccines. “Funding was also needed to keep operating rooms and emergency departments functioning.”
Read more: Iraq’s healthcare system nears collapse: Doctors leave, hospitals overflow
On July 30, Health Minister Abdul Hussein Al-Mousawi acknowledged that a government liquidity crisis had made salary payments a priority. He said KIMADIA had received only 15% of its budget, leaving it unable to meet its financial obligations or sign new contracts and putting medicine supplies at risk.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Faleh Al-Sari noted that monthly salary obligations total about 7.8 trillion Iraqi dinars (approximately $5.96 billion).
Read more: Iraq salary delays spark market slowdown, family hardship
