KirkukNow

In Sulaymaniya Northern Province, the maternal and infant care unit is active in 74 health centers, with 21 centers located in the districts and sub-districts, according to a local health official.

All these health centers belong to the Sulaymaniya Health Prevention Directorate, where they provide dozens of free health services to pregnant mothers and babies, from the first trimester of pregnancy until the baby is six years old and joins school.

Rafiq Nasraddin, head of the health strengthening department of Sulaimaniya who is also an expert in prevention and health, told KirkukNow that there are maternal and infant care units in all the 74 health centers.

The services provided include weight, diabetes, blood pressure, blood tests, and ultrasound services for pregnant mothers from the third month

“We give them also folic acid pills which boosts DNA formation necessary for people who are going through rapid cell division and growth,” he added.

"Pregnant mothers should visit these units every two months initially, but after seven months they should visit every month," Nasraddin said. "They should visit every week from the ninth month of pregnancy until the birth of their baby."

Iraq’s healthcare system which was once one of the most advanced in the region now is in serious crisis. There’s a shortage of buildings, drugs and the medical staff to administer it. Over the past three decades the country has been ravaged by Iraqi-Iran war, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, ousting of Saddam regime followed by sectarian violence, the war against al-Qaeda and the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ISIS.

The political chaos after 2003, pushed an estimated 15,000 out of 52,000 registered Iraqi doctors to leave the country. The young student doctors primarily seek training and life abroad rather than permanent state employment.

All these health services are free in public hospitals, and services for the baby continue in the same care unit even after the baby is born.

 The baby receives the first vaccination in the first week. After 40 days, the mother visits the health center for psychological counseling about postpartum depression.

"Most women and girls suffer from postpartum depression. If the problem is not treated in the care units, they are given special instructions to consult a specialist, as well as postpartum exercise, healthy nutrition, instructions for pregnant women with diabetes."

Infant care services include growth, height, weight, vaccinations for diseases such as measles, mumps, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and vitamins.

"The monitoring will continue until the age of six, when he will receive the last vaccination and a hearing and vision health report, according to which he will be admiited to school," Nasraddin said.

In 2019, the Iraqi government allocated just 2.5% of the state’s $106.5 billion budget to its health ministry, while security forces received 18% and the oil ministry 13.5%. The same was true for 2014.

Over the past decade, data from the World Health Organization WHO shows, Iraq’s central government has consistently spent far less per capita on healthcare than its much poorer neighbors - $161 per citizen each year on average, compared to Jordan’s $304 and Lebanon’s $649, a report by Reuters found.  

According to the guidelines of the Ministry of Education, if the child does not have the report of the monitoring unit, he will not be admitted to school.

 Vaccinations are only available in public hospitals, and private hospitals are not allowed to administer them, "because vaccination is a national program and is monitored by organizations," Rafiq Nasraddin said.

Of the 74 health centers that have monitoring units, 53 are in Sulaymaniya, 21 are in districts and villages. In total, 40 mothers receive services for themselves or their babies monthly in each center.

"In order to protect your health and your babies, please visit health centers and get free tests," the head of the Sulaymaniya Health Strengthening Department said.