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SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - A shortage in supplies of medicine and medical equipment has plagued public hospitals in Sulaimani as they confront the possibility of having to turn patients away due to a lack of resources needed to treat them.
Small budgets allocated from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the ministry of health have limited the purchase of medical supplies and medicine in Sulaimani, further exacerbated by the debts owed by the health directorate to pharmaceutical companies. Some of Sulaimani's hospitals face the possibility of closure if the gaps in supplies are not filled.
At Sulaimani Children's hospital, a large amount of much-needed medicine is not available. “The children here all need treatment, but there's very little medicine. A few days ago, I went downstairs to bring oxygen to my grandson, but there was no oxygen,” Galawezh Fatah, a Sulaimani local told Rudaw’s Horvan Rafaat on Sunday.
Hiwa Hospital, the largest cancer treatment center in the city, has been struggling with shortages and heavy debt for over two years now. Most of the medical devices are also disabled and no money is available for repairs, despite the urgent need for care toward cancer patients.
“The health sector in Sulaimani is in a dangerous situation,” Yad Naqshbandy, Director of Hiwa Hospital warned. He added that the issue is the result of “a lack of funds and this problem needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.”
Herish Said Salim, Deputy General Manager of Sulaymaniyah Health, echoed similar concerns regarding the fault of the Kurdistan Region’s institutions. “All these problems are linked to Sulaimani's banks, but all the officials are avoiding it,” he said.
In an interview with Rudaw on Tuesday, Sabah Hawrami, the head of Sulaimani’s health directorate said they “owe ten billion dinars” to pharmaceutical companies. He added that the health situation in Sulaimani was precarious due to small budget allocations, indebting them to medical supply companies.
“The minister of health is not taking responsibility, nor is the council of ministers [government] and it is because of the disintegration of the Kurdistan Region's administration,” Salim said.
The war in Ukraine also poses a threat to medical supplies in the Region. Around ten Ukrainian companies have been supplying medicine to the Kurdistan Region over the past years, but they have now stopped due to conflict. A medical source told Rudaw English in March that the Region still has “good stock” for the time being but an escalation or a prolonged conflict will have an impact on medical supplies.
The Kurdistan Region has seen drug shortages in the past and many areas, such as Sulaimani, are still experiencing them.
In addition to medicine supply shortages, some of the staff at hospitals in the Region have previously gone without pay for months as a result of delays in salaries.
The KRG has begun a reform program aiming to increase revenues, decrease operational expenditure, increase transparency, and digitize departments but significant progress remains to be seen.
Additional reporting by Aveen Karim
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