Iraq 2021 © Ahmed Kaka/MSF

Iraq

Years of conflict have taken a heavy toll on health facilities and civilians.

Update

Six years of healing at Al-Wahda Hospital

Amid the deadly battle for Mosul, Iraq, in 2018, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) opened Al-Wahda Hospital to help the region cope with an influx of wounded, providing orthopedic and post-operative care. After six years of providing surgical care in the aftermath of the war, MSF handed over medical services at the hospital to the Directorate of Health. Mosul has made progress in its recovery journey after years of deadly battles that left much of the city in ruins.

Our work in Iraq

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs a diverse range of health services across Iraq, serving hard-to-reach communities and people affected by years of conflict.

Ibtisam Hashim, midwife, Nablus hospital, West Mosul

What's happening in Iraq?

Despite signs of improvement after decades of war, Iraq’s public health care sector is still recovering and there are significant needs, particularly in remote areas and regions directly affected by the recent conflict with the Islamic State (IS) group.

As international resources have been reallocated to other regions in the world and assistance has decreased in Iraq, the country is facing the major challenge of rebuilding and rehabilitating its infrastructure and public services, including public health care.

Tanya Haj-Hassan, Paediatrician, Nablus Hospital, West Mosul

How we're helping in Iraq

In 2023, MSF teams worked in 11 locations across Iraq, delivering a wide range of essential and specialized medical services to residents of areas with limited access to health care, as well as to people returning home after prolonged displacement in camps or other regions within the country.

Our activities included maternal, pediatric and neonatal services, emergency medical care, sexual and reproductive health care, specialized orthopedic and obstetric surgery, comprehensive post-surgical rehabilitation, treatment for non-communicable diseases and mental health support. In addition, we supported health care facilities across Iraq with donations of medical supplies and technical training for staff and strengthened local health authorities’ preparedness for emergencies.

We also continued to assist the National Tuberculosis Institute with the administration of innovative oral treatment regimens for patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis.

During the year, we organized several referrals for Iraqi patients requiring specialist surgical care to MSF’s reconstructive surgery hospital in Amman, Jordan.

How we're helping

87,100

Outpatient consultations

5,000

Prenatal consultations

2,830

Surgical interventions

1,220

Postnatal consultations

*Data from MSF International Activity Report 2023

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How you can help

Not everyone can treat patients in the field. But everyone can do something.

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