Baghdad Gives Beirut Oil in Exchange for Health Services
The federal government of Iraq has renewed an agreement to provide Lebanon with up to two million tons of crude oil for another year in exchange for services including healthcare to Iraqi citizens.
Beirut reached an agreement with Baghdad to bolster its fuel supplies in May of this year, aiming to address the ongoing economic crisis and enhance power production in the country.
As part of the deal, Iraq also agreed to a 50% increase in the volume of fuel oil provided under an existing arrangement, with the supply reaching 1.5 million metric tonnes for this year, Reuters reported on Friday.
Iraq has an old public healthcare system, with people having access to free medicare. However, health services remain underdeveloped, lacking in advanced equipment and good quality medications.
The country used to have one of the best healthcare systems in the broader region. Years of conflict, insurgency, and sectarian war degraded Iraq's critical infrastructure systems including the health sector, with successive Iraqi governments having been indifferent to develop this vital public service sector.
