Lack of government support and drug crisis exacerbate the suffering of cancer patients in Iraq!

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[size=52]Lack of government support and drug crisis exacerbate the suffering of cancer patients in Iraq![/size]

[size=45]The crisis of providing cancer medicines in Iraq is worsening, as patients suffer from an unprecedented rise in drug prices and a lack of government support. These crises put patients in a critical situation, which requires urgent intervention by the health authorities to improve the situation and provide essential medicines at reasonable prices.[/size]
[size=45]The head of the Strategic Center for Human Rights, Fadhel Al-Gharawi, says, “The Iraqi constitution guarantees the right to provide health care, which requires the government to take the necessary measures to provide this right, including health services and health insurance,” noting that “providing cancer medications, which are expensive, constitutes an essential part of providing health care.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, “Many patients are forced to buy medicines from the black market or travel abroad to obtain treatment, and if medicines are not available, the likely fate is death.”[/size]
[size=45]The latest statistics from the Ministry of Health for 2024 show that Iraq recorded about 70,000 new cancer cases this year. The data showed that breast cancer and colon cancer are the most common in the country, with the number of cases continuing to increase.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the official spokesman for the Pharmacists Syndicate, Osama Hadi, explains that “medicines and medical supplies are provided in two ways: the first is through the public sector, via the Ministry of Health, and the second is through the private sector, via scientific offices.”
He adds that “the public sector provides basic medicines for free through government hospitals, although some rare or difficult medicines may be expensive.”[/size]
[size=45]He explains that “the private sector is affected by the costs of import, shipping and storage, which leads to higher prices, which does not necessarily reflect the exploitation of patients, but rather is due to the high costs.”[/size]
[size=45]Hadi calls for “increasing financial support for the public sector so that the Ministry of Health can provide all the required types of treatment, as well as supporting the private sector by reducing import costs and taxes, to ensure that medicines reach citizens at reasonable prices.”[/size]
[size=45]In addition, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Saif Al-Badr, confirms that “the priorities of the government program stipulate providing all cancer treatments free of charge in all government institutions specialized in treating cancer cases.”[/size]
[size=45]In the same context, the Director General of Health at the Ministry of Health, Hassan Al-Rubaie, said in previous statements, “The ministry is working hard to improve the availability of medicines by negotiating with companies to reduce prices and expand the scope of government support,” adding that “there are future plans to increase financial allocations to improve the level of health care in the country.”[/size]
[size=45]According to reports issued by the Ministries of Health and Environment, the annual rate of cancer incidence in Iraq is 2,500 cases each year, but the reality indicates much more than that, as the number of cancer patients in hospitals is large.[/size]
[size=45]The health care system in Iraq is suffering from a major crisis due to the shortage of medicines and medical staff, after thousands of doctors and specialists left the country in recent years due to being targeted and unstable.[/size]
[size=45]This is in addition to the government’s lack of attention to the health sector. For example, in 2019, which witnessed relative calm, the government allocated only 2.5 percent of the state budget of $106.5 billion to the ministries of health and environment. This is a small amount compared to what is spent in other countries in the Middle East.[/size]
[size=45]According to a book issued by the Arab Scientific Society Organization (ARSCO) in 2015, which includes the health complications of radioactive contamination resulting from the Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003 and their aftermath, the total amount of depleted uranium dropped by American forces on some areas is equivalent to 250 atomic bombs.[/size]
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