KIU bloc warns against financial impact of privatizing healthcare and education
Shafaq News/ On Monday, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) blocin the Kurdish Parliament criticized agreements with private companies inhealthcare and education, stating they threaten the rights of low-incomegroups.
During a press conference in Al-Sulaymaniyah attended byShafaq News, the Head of the KIU Bloc, Mustafa Abdullah, stated that "healthand education services are the government's responsibility and should not beused as tools to increase the wealth of private companies."
He described the gradual privatization of the health andeducation sectors as a major injustice to citizens who are already sufferingfrom delayed salaries and a lack of basic services like electricity.
In the same context, MP Ali Hama Saleh explained that theagreement spans ten years and grants the private company the right to supplyhospitals with medical equipment in exchange for an annual payment of 10billion dinars from state revenues, placing a significant financial burden onthe healthcare sector.
Saleh had previously noted that the prices of some medicaltools have increased by up to 100 times, adding that "continuing toimplement the agreement will cost the Kurdistan Region more than 48 billiondinars annually in Al-Sulaymaniyah alone, with even greater losses in Erbil andDuhok."
Stressing that the government would not be able to bearthese costs in the long term, he called for a review of government policiesconcerning the privatization of the health and education sectors.
