KRG allocates 1.6 billion dinars per month to hospitals treating cancer patients

Hospitals in Erbil, Sulaimani, and Duhok provinces will be recipients of the funds.

Mustafa Shilani 2021/06/20 23:44

Hiwa Cancer Hospital in Slulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan. (Photo: Kurdistan-Save the Children)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani ordered the allocation of 1.6 billion Iraqi dinars to hospitals treating cancer patients.

The Nanakli and Rizgari hospitals in Erbil, Hiwa Hospital in Sulaimani, and Azadi Hospital in Duhok will be the recipients of the funds, a government statement said.

The same day, the Kurdistan Region’s Health Ministry rejected local media reports asserting Sulaimani's Hiwa Hospital would be privatized. Ministry spokesman Aso Hawezi condemned the reports as "misinformation" politically motivated.

The claims surfaced as the facility saw a shortage of medical supplies, with patients appealing to the Erbil and Iraqi governments to support them to obtain much-needed medicines and equipment.

Kurdistan Region’s Minister of Health Saman Barznji, announced last April that more than 6000 new cases of cancer had been recorded in the region in 2019.

According to the World Health Organization, about one in six deaths occur due to cancer, worldwide. Additionally, the organization says an average of 200 per 100,000 people is diagnosed with cancer annually.