ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Head of the Peshmerga Ministry’s department of health Major General Muhsin Rasheed, visited Rudaw studios on Wednesday to tell the world that the Kurdish forces were in urgent need of medical help. Maj. Gen. Rasheed said that most Peshmerga deaths in the last two years could have been prevented if they had proper medical treatment on the frontline at the time of injury. He urged the international community, particularly members of the US-led coalition that to bring mobile health units to the frontlines for the Peshmerga and support building a military hospital in Erbil where more serious injuries could be treated. Maj. Gen. Rasheed revealed that in the last two years and with its limited funds the Kurdish government has sent wounded Peshmerga to countries such as Iran, Turkey, Jordan, India and Greece for treatment and as a result has incurred a lot of debt. Some countries such as India and Germany have treated some Peshmerga for free, he said, as he asked others such as the UK, France and the US to take in more wounded Peshmerga for treatment. He said the Peshmerga Ministry has been frequently visited by foreign delegations and received much promise of help but they need to see deeds, too. He welcomed a move by a number of British MPs who have asked their government to provide the Peshmerga with frontline medical facilities and the possibility of treating some of the wounded in British hospitals.
