Iraq’s Health Minister Abdul Hussein Aziz Al-Mousawi announced on Tuesday that the ministry is seeking to strengthen international partnerships and support initiatives to improve healthcare services, particularly by ensuring access to high-quality medicines for cancer patients.
Speaking at the French Health Forum in Baghdad, Al-Mousawi said Iraq’s healthcare sector faces significant challenges related to limited capacity and aging infrastructure. He explained that the available hospital beds cover only slightly more than one-third of the country’s actual needs. Around 80–85% of existing healthcare facilities were established in the early 1980s, when Iraq’s population was approximately 14 million, compared with around 46 million today.
The minister emphasized the need to accelerate the modernization of healthcare institutions, enhance their operational capacity, and adopt international expertise and advanced technologies to address existing challenges and improve medical services for citizens.
The forum seeks to expand healthcare cooperation between Iraq and France, explore investment opportunities, facilitate knowledge and technology transfer, and encourage the localization of modern medical technologies in Iraq.
