'We have no doctors': Mosul's healthcare sector in shambles

MOSUL, Iraq - Mosul residents have said they cannot find doctors or medicine in the city, almost four years after its liberation from the Islamic State (ISIS). 

"There are no medical centres in Mosul. If you have a patient, you are in trouble. There is not a single cannula at the hospitals," said Taha Mohammed, who lives on the western side of the city.

"This is the Harmat neighbourhood. There are no nurses, no physicians. If you happen to fall ill during nighttime, you do not know where to go. Those who do not have a car do not know where to go. You will be in trouble," added Fatima Abbas, who lives in east Mosul. 

People also say the hospitals are running low on medicine, with doctors asking patients to bring it themselves, or go elsewhere. 

Of 13 public hospitals in Mosul, nine of them were damaged during the battle to free the city, reducing healthcare services by 70 percent, Shaalan Aziz, the manager of Ibn al-Athir Teaching Hospital for Children told Rudaw earlier this week. 

"Undoubtedly, Mosul needs much bigger and more hospitals. There are currently attempts to build more hospitals. There has been a deal to build a 600-bed German hospital and this will alleviate the burden on the health sector of Nineveh province," he said.

Two of the damaged hospitals were repaired by the government, he added.