President Barzani To Inaugurate Major International Health Summit in Erbil
President Barzani to open the 11th Mesopotamian Health Congress in Erbil. The two-day forum gathers 800 doctors to share global medical advances and disease control methods, continuing its non-political mission since 2008.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - In a hall filled with white coats and global accents, Erbil becomes a meeting point for medicine and shared purpose as the Mesopotamian Health Congress opens with the presence of President Barzani, marking a new chapter in a journey that began nearly two decades ago.
On Thursday, the Eleventh Mesopotamian Health Congress is being held in Erbil with the attendance of President Barzani and the participation of 800 local and international doctors and specialists. President Barzani is scheduled to deliver a speech at the opening of the congress.
The congress will continue for two days. Its program highlights the latest global medical and health advancements, while also hosting discussions on methods for treating and controlling common diseases.
The Mesopotamian Health Congress initiative was born from the belief that, in the twenty-first century, academic and intellectual Kurds should be able to come together for professional exchange and cooperation without political goals. Doctors, the initiative says, are best suited for this mission because their profession requires them to preserve and restore human health “without distinction of religion, nationality, race, party affiliation, or social position.”
The organizers trace their journey to 2008, when a group of colleagues convened to explore the possibility of organizing a purely scientific, professional congress among Kurdish doctors. Their aim was to invite Kurdish physicians from all parts of Kurdistan and around the world, as well as those living in regions mainly inhabited by Kurds in the Middle East.
A group of about ten doctors from Europe and from Northern Kurdistan (Türkiye), traveled to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and met with medical associations in Duhok, Erbil, and Sulaimani. After exchanging ideas, they agreed to organize the first medical congress under the name “Mesopotamian Health Days.” The term “Mesopotamia” was deliberately chosen to integrate all ethnic groups that have lived together in the region for centuries and millennia.
To date, ten Mesopotamian Medicine Congresses have been held across the region and around the world, leading to the current eleventh edition in Erbil.
With its doors open in Erbil and voices from across borders under one roof, the congress renews a long-standing commitment to science, cooperation, and the shared responsibility of healing.