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AL-Wahda Hospital

Iraq 2021 © Ahmed Kaka/MS

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Iraq

Years of conflict have taken a heavy toll on health facilities and civilians.

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  • COVID-19
  • Mental health
  • Maternal health
  • Tuberculosis
  • COVID-19: Our global response
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Our work in Iraq

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) responded to multiple health emergencies across Iraq in 2020, providing care to thousands of people displaced by the war against the Islamic State group, protesters injured in violent clashes with security forces, and patients with COVID-19. We also supported the national health system, which is still in the early stages of reconstruction, by filling gaps in essential health care.

Ibtisam Hashim, midwife, Nablus hospital, West Mosul

What's happening in Iraq?

As of August 2021, nearly 1.2 million people are still internally displaced. Factors like the slow reconstruction of homes and infrastructure, a lack of job opportunities, and the inability to access essential services are preventing the displaced from returning to their homes; some have been living ‘temporarily’ in camps for years, without adequate access to basic services. 

Many of those who have managed to return home desperately lack access to medical care and other basic services. Mass protests and the COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant impact on the ongoing health system recovery and on people’s ability to access health care.

Tanya Haj-Hassan, Paediatrician, Nablus Hospital, West Mosul

How we're helping in Iraq

Supporting emergency preparedness 

The mass demonstrations that started at the end of 2019 continued into 2020, prompting MSF to launch an emergency intervention in Najaf, Dhi Qar, and Basra governorates to respond to an increase in the number of patients with violence-related injuries. In Najaf, we ran training in mass casualty planning at three local hospitals to help staff deal with a sudden influx of patients. In Nasiriyah, our teams supported the emergency room of Al-Hussein hospital with training on trauma care, focusing on critical injuries and resuscitation. Teams in Basra provided training on emergency preparedness at the city level, as well as trauma training for paramedics, in collaboration with the Department of Health. 

COVID-19 response

As many health facilities damaged in recent years have yet to be rebuilt or rehabilitated and returned to full capacity, and there is a shortage of specialized health care staff and drugs, it was immediately clear that the health system would struggle to cope with the increased needs and challenges generated by the pandemic. We therefore decided to maintain our lifesaving medical activities while strengthening infection prevention and control measures, and putting in place triage and referral procedures to protect our patients and staff.  

We also supported the response to the outbreak in Mosul, in Ninewa governorate, temporarily transforming our 64-bed post-operative care facility in the east of the city into a COVID-19 treatment center for suspected and confirmed cases. In mid-November, we opened an additional 15-bed intensive care unit at Al-Salam hospital to offer advanced care for patients with critical and severe forms of the virus.  

At other facilities in Ninewa, as well as in Erbil, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Dohuk governorates, we provided training sessions, with a focus on infection control. In addition, we set up a 20-bed isolation unit and treatment facility at Laylan displacement camp in Kirkuk, in preparation for a potential spike in COVID-19 cases. 

Essential health care for vulnerable communities  

In the rest of the country, we continued to run general and specialist health services at our ongoing projects for displaced people, returnees, and vulnerable communities. In all locations, including our COVID-19 centers, we maintained our emergency room and mental health services.  

As a result of the pandemic and the closure of private clinics, our maternity and pediatric teams in west Mosul and Sinuni saw a sharp increase in demand for care and admissions.  

In Ninewa, we provided emergency and intensive care, burns treatment, physiotherapy, and mental health care at our hospital in Qayyarah, until October, when we handed over all our activities to local government hospitals. As part of the process, we trained staff and donated medical supplies and other equipment. Until October, at the Qayyarah displacement camp, MSF also offered general health care, maternity services, and treatment and follow-up for non-communicable diseases, until we handed over our activities to another organization.  

We also had teams working in general health care centers in the towns of Hawija and Al-Abasi in Kirkuk governorate, and in Sinsil Al-Muqdadiya in Diyala governorate, where we supported maternity services, sexual and reproductive health care, treatment for non-communicable diseases, health promotion, and mental health care. Our general health care services were also available in Laylan camp (Kirkuk), until its closure in November, and in Alwand and Sinsil camps (Diyala), until August, when MSF handed over these activities to the Department of Health and other organizations. 

In Baghdad, MSF continued to collaborate with the national tuberculosis (TB) program, with the introduction of a new, more effective oral treatment for drug-resistant TB. 

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we were forced to temporarily suspend our activities at the Baghdad medical rehabilitation center, where people injured in violent incidents or accidents receive comprehensive care, including mental health support. However, we were able to maintain our support to patients through online physiotherapy and mental health consultations, for example using Skype, and restarted activities later in the year.  

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How we're helping in 2020

33,300

Outpatient consultations

69,100

Emergency room admissions

14,400

Births assisted

More news and stories

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Learn about MSF’s journalistic roots and our commitment to bear witness and speak out about the plight of the people we treat.

News Jun 16, 2022

MSF statement on reported airstrike in Iraq

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Maternal services insufficient in Mosul

Story Apr 11, 2022

Iraq: Five years after the battle of Mosul, women still struggle to ac...

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NFI distribution in Mosul's Old City

Story Oct 19, 2021

How the ever-expanding 'war on terror' impacts access to health care

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Learn about MSF’s journalistic roots and our commitment to bear witness and speak out about the plight of the people we treat.

View more related news & stories

How you can help

Not everyone can treat patients in the field. But everyone can do something.

Some humanitarian crises make the headlines—others don’t. Unrestricted support from our donors allows us to mobilize quickly and efficiently to provide lifesaving medical care to the people who need it most, whether those needs are in the spotlight or not. And your donation is 100 percent tax-deductible.

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