At the launch of the National Stop TB Partnership (from left to right): H.E Dr Majeed Hamad Amin, Minister of Health of Iraq, H.E Mrs Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, First Lady of Iraq, H.E Dr Rekawt Hama Rasheed, Minister of Health of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO Representative“TB causes loss of human life and poses a threat to the development process. It is a curable disease from which no one should die,” said First Lady of Iraq H.E. Mrs Hero Ibrahim Ahmed at the launch of the Iraq National Stop TB Partnership in Sulaimaniyah on 27 June 2012. She praised the efforts of ministries of health and WHO in implementing the global Stop TB Strategy, which aims to ensure universal access to treatment and care services for all TB patients.

The establishment of the National Stop TB Partnership in Iraq is based on close collaboration between partners in implementing innovative, unconventional ways to fight TB at the national level. Poverty, nutrition, housing, education, labour conditions and the environment are all factors which contribute to the spread of the disease.