UK ready to support Kurdistan Region’s health system: Professor
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United Kingdom is ready to support and help improve the Kurdistan Region’s health system, said an expert on public health on Friday evening.
“It is our pleasure to support the health system of the Kurdistan Region,” said Professor Salman Rawaf, the Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Public Health Education and Training at the Imperial College in London. “We need to set up a roadmap to improve health care services. Such a roadmap will be an excellent way for getting support from the UK and others.”
“My team and I at the (WHO-CC) Collaborating Centre Imperial College London and the NHS (National Health Service) are more than happy to work with you on such a project,” he added.
According to his Imperial College profile, Professor Rawaf “is well known for his international work and contribution to global health. He is an adviser to the World Health Organization on primary care, public health, health systems, medical education and human resource for health development.”
Professor Rawaf’s remarks came shortly after Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s visit to Guy’s Hospital in London on Thursday. During that visit, Barzani inquired about the prospect of cooperation to improve the Kurdistan Region’s health sector.
On Friday, the prime minister also tweeted that the autonomous region’s “health sector requires reform.”
“It needs investment in doctors and technology — a system that brings accountability,” he said.
Read More: PM Barzani discusses partnership potential with leading UK health ecenter
Prime Minister Barzani arrived in London on Monday to discuss trade and investment ties between the Kurdistan Region and the United Kingdom.
Barzani was officially received by his British counterpart Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street. He also had meetings with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Defense, Education, Energy and Trade, and several other senior British officials. They discussed the latest developments in Iraq and the region and ways to strengthen relations between the Kurdistan Region and the United Kingdom.