Iraq News Now

Erbil, Iraq, 19 April 2020: The World Health Organization (WHO) handed over an urgent COVID 19 response consignment of in-kind medical supplies and equipment to the Ministry of Health of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG-I).

The 7-truck consignment is worth US$426,732 and it included 151 pallets of medical supplies, and hospital consumables, in addition to 46 pallets of renewable and supplementary items of the Inter-agency Emergency Health Kit (IEHK) sufficient for a population of approximately 200,000 persons for a minimum duration of three months.

The consignment also included, three ICU ventilators and monitors along with personal protective equipment and virus transportation medium, all of which, comes in timely to support the MoH efforts in fighting and containing COVID-19 in KRG-I.

“WHO is very concerned about the health of the Iraqi people and will continue to provide the technical and logistical support required for protecting the health staff of both Central and Regional ministries as well as the citizens all over Iraq,” said Dr. Adham Ismail, WHO Representative in Iraq.

The urgent shipment of supplies was thanked by health officials in the KRG-I. “We appreciate WHO support to the Ministry of Health of Kurdistan Region of Iraq; it will certainly assist in equipping our national health staff who are working hard to contain COVID 19 in the Region,” said Dr. Saman H. Barzangy, Minister of Health of KRG-Iraq.

The in-kind consignment is meant to support COVID 19 response activities implemented by the directorates of health of KRG-I. It further included a shipment of 30 hospital beds sent to Sulaymaniyah prior to the hand over due to the urgency of the request.

As of 18 April, the health authorities in KR-I reported 337 COVID 19 confirmed cases with 4 associated deaths and 244 recoveries.

WHO would like to thank Kuwait and USAID for their generous contribution which assisted in funding this COVID 19 protection and treatment consignment.

For further information, please contact:

Ajyal Sultany, WHO Communications Officer, +964 7740 892 878, sultanya@who.int
Baraa Shabaa, WHO Communications Officer, shabaab@who.int

Useful links

• Iraq produces COVID-19 laboratory supplies to test more cases rapidly: http://www.emro.who.int/irq/iraq-news/iraq-produces-covid-19-laboratory-supplies-to-test-more-cases-rapidly.html
  
• The fight to contain COVID-19 in Iraq: http://www.emro.who.int/irq/iraq-news/the-fight-to-contain-covid-19-in-iraq.html
  
• Iraq reports a noticeable increase in COVID-19 cases since February: http://www.emro.who.int/irq/iraq-news/iraq-reports-noticeable-increase-in-covid-19-cases.html

To access reliable information on COVID-19, please consult:

WHO RO (EMRO): http://www.emro.who.int/index.html
WHO HQ: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019