New health center for infectious disease inaugurated in Erbil

The medical center has been funded by Germany and implemented in partnership with UNDP and local authorities.
Local officials and representatives of the international community and diplomatic community cutting the ribbon to inaugurate Bahrka Hospital in Erbil, Oct. 24, 2022. (Photo: Rebaz Siyan/Kurdistan 24)
Local officials and representatives of the international community and diplomatic community cutting the ribbon to inaugurate Bahrka Hospital in Erbil, Oct. 24, 2022. (Photo: Rebaz Siyan/Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdish officials as well as representatives of international organizations and the diplomatic community inaugurated a new health center in the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil province for infectious diseases.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Health Saman Barzinji, German Consul General to Erbil Klaus Streicher as well as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative Zena Ali Ahmad.

Located in Bahrka town in the north of the province, the center provides health services to the Kurdish population as well as refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The KRG Department of Health constructed the hospital's building.

Consisting of Restorate Care Unit (RCU) for respiratory conditions, the medical center has been funded by Germany and implemented in partnership with UNDP and local authorities.

The newly opened hospital “bears witness to the long-standing commitment that Germany has made to the Republic of Iraq and Kurdistan Region to enhance the livelihoods of its population,” the consul general said in his speech at the ceremony.

“This project is one example of our support to the health sector in Kurdistan and Erbil,” the UNDP official told Kurdistan 24, adding her agency has opened a similar center in Duhok recently.

The development agency is now working on another medical center in Sulaimani, she added.

Germany is the second biggest donor after the US to the UNDP, she said, extending her gratitude for the European country’s support to the agency.

In addition to medical support, the UN agency is also providing capacity-building assistance to the Kurdish region’s integrity commission, according to the official.

“We will continue to support over the coming years,” she said.

The German diplomat thanked the UNDP for its support for over 19 health hospitals that had been established across the country in previous years.

The country in mid-October inaugurated a Medical Training Center for Peshmerga forces as well in Sulaimani province.