ITB No IRQ/490/2012

MOH transportation

Closing date: 19 February 2012

Annex A | Annex B

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UNDP and WHO Handover First Specialized TB Hospital to the Government of Iraq
Sulimaniya, 28 January 2012

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) handed over the first specialised Tuberculosis (TB) hospital to the Government of Iraq at a ceremony. The Hospital is located in the Sulimaniya Governorate, and will be supported by the Federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The KRG Minister of Health, Dr. Tahir Hawrami, and officials from the national TB programme in Baghdad, were also present at the ceremony.

The project to renovate the hospital in Sulimaniya, which was completed in December 2011, is part of a larger TB project for Iraq, funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and jointly implemented by UNDP and WHO. The Government of Iraq, including the Kurdistan regional government, will provide the resources to equip and staff the hospital, and it is expected that the hospital will be fully operational in the next few months.

“I am very pleased to be in Sulimaniya today to handover this hospital to the Government” said Peter Batchelor, UNDP Country Director in Iraq. “This hospital is part of a larger package of support that UNDP and WHO are providing to the Government to help address the TB issue in Iraq” he added.

The new hospital in Sulimaniya, which is the first of its kind in Iraq, has a capacity of 30 beds and will provide specialised treatment and medical services to Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) TB patients.

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Investing in tomorrow... the first child in Iraq receives the improved and newly-introduced rota and Haemophilus influenza type B vaccines
Baghdad, Iraq, 17 January 2012

MoH during a press conference conducted at the MoH-Baghdad

Consolidated efforts to protect and safeguard children in Iraq 

The Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with UNICEF, announced on 17 January at a press conference at the Ministry of Health premises the availability of rota and Haemophilus influenza type B vaccines for all at all health care centres, basic health units and state-run hospitals, free of charge. The press conference was attended by high-level official delegates representing health-related ministries, the media and UN agencies.

H.E. Dr Majeed Hamad Amin, the Minister of Health of Iraq said, “These vaccines will protect thousands of infants against the most dangerous childhood infections, including the major causes of diarrhoea and the major causes of pneumonia, and meningitis, that is known to lead to permanent neurological disabilities”. H.E. said that in 2011, 46% of severe diarrhoea and pneumonia cases were reported as a result of rotavirus and invasive diseases caused by Haemophilus influenza, the second cause of death among infants in Iraq. These vaccines will contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality of children in the country.”

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Country Cooperation Strategy Meeting in Amman
Amman, 20 December 2011

The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), completed a three-day workshop to present the results of the Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) for the year 2012-2017. The (CCS) is a medium-term strategic framework that defines (WHO)'s strategic agenda in Iraq. The (CCS) built on the UNDAF, the new National development Plan (NDP) and the Joint Programme Review Mission (JPRM).

Under this strategy, a three-day workshop to analyze and introduce the principles of CCS-Iraq took place in Amman between 18-20 December 2011 with the presence of H.E the Minister of Health Dr. Majeed Hamad Amin, Member of Parliament-Chairperson of Health and Environment Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, Dr. Liqaa Al- Yassin, Senior Deputy Minister of Health for Reconstruction and Donors Affairs, Dr. Essam Namiq, and Head of Health and Environment Committee at the Kurdistan Paliament, Dr. Hasan Sora, along with 21 delegations from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Education, World Health Organization regional consultants and WHO’s experts.

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Scaling up injury surveillance system in Iraq
Erbil, 22 November 2011

The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), completed a two-day workshop to present the results of the Iraqi Sentinel Injury Surveillance system for the year 2010. This study was conducted as part of the European Union funded programme to strengthen specialized medical services in Iraq (emergency medical services and blood transfusion services).

Over 100 professionals, from different ministries and organizations, including the Iraqi Ministry of Health, Ministry of Health /KRG, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Defense participated to the workshop to review the results and explore the possibility of expanding the injury surveillance system to the rest of country. 

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Ministry of Health of Iraq/WHO launch Global Report on Disability
21 June 2011

Erbil – “Iraq joins the world and pledges to step up efforts to enable access to mainstream services and to invest in specialized programmes to unlock the vast potential of people with disabilities”,  stated H.E. Dr Majid Hamad Amin, the Minister of Health of Iraq.

During the national launch of the Global Report on Disability, that took place at Helena Rehabilitation Centre in Erbil, Iraq, the Minister of Health of the Kurdistan Regional Government Dr Taher Hawramy emphasized that the Government of Iraq represented by the Ministries of Health and their partners were committed to continuing efforts to uphold human and health rights for the estimated two million brothers and sisters living with disability in Iraq. He said, “It is our responsibility to break down the barriers, including stigma and discrimination, as well as to provide people in need with equitable access to opportunities and encourage them to participate and contribute to the development of their communities.”

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