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Kurdistan Health minister visits Europe to
step up medical training
18.10.2006 |
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London, October
18 ,-- Dr. Abdul Rahman Osman Yones, the KRG
Minister for Health, last week came to Britain and
Germany to find ways to step up training for
Kurdistan’s doctors and nurses.
Minister asks for
recognition of Kurdistan's specialists
The health minister also sought recognition from
British and German medical authorities for Kurdish
doctors’ specialisation qualifications. He said,
“The specialisation certificate needs recognition
worldwide, otherwise it is just a piece of paper”.
The purpose of his official visit was to get more
training for the Kurdistan Region’s doctors and
nurses. The minister made the request in his
meetings with Kurdish expatriate doctors, and
British and German government and health officials.
He asked the Royal College of Physicians to allow
doctors to sit the MRCP Part 1 medical exam in
Kurdistan. In a separate meeting, the Royal College
of General Practitioners’ international development
department offered to send a team to advise on ways
to improve primary healthcare services. Dr. Yones
also asked for access to online medical training
materials and publications. |
Dr. Abdul Rahman Yones, KRG Minister for Health |
After meeting Kurdish doctors and scientists working
in the UK, Dr. Yones said, “we came to a good mutual
understanding of the problems in the health service.
Several experts expressed their wish to come and
help improve the health system and train doctors on
a voluntary unpaid basis. I am grateful for the
voluntary work that the Kurdish medical associations
in the UK have done already, such as helping to
administer the final-year medical exams.”
Ministry supports NGO
project to reduce infant mortality
Child Advocacy International (CAI), a NGO chaired by
Dr. John Bridson, won the minister’s support during
his visit for its plan to carry out emergency child
and maternal health training. The NGO hopes to train
doctors and nurses in dealing with emergencies faced
by mothers and children, especially at the critical
childbirth stage. Dr Yones welcomed the initiative,
noting that “In Kurdistan we still have relatively
high rates of infant deaths in labour, even though
we have the medical facilities and manpower. What we
lack is the right training to prevent the deaths. We
would like the World Health Organisation to
recognise CAI’s training programme so that it can be
implemented first in the Kurdistan Region and spread
all over Iraq in the future.” Dr. Yones plans to
lobby the World Health Organisation to win its
backing for the project.
Dr. Yones pushes for UK
government to ease travel advice
One of the obstacles that the KRG Ministry for
Health faces is the very strict travel advice given
by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO),
which advises its citizens against travelling to the
Kurdistan Region.
Dr. Yones raised this problem with the FCO as well
as the head of the Royal College of Physicians, as
it is deterring British doctors from travelling to
train medics and help improve the healthcare system.
Dr. Yones noted after the meeting, “We asked the FCO
to reconsider its advice that all of Iraq is a no-go
zone, and to ease the restriction in the KRG area
which is safe, so that specialists from Britain can
come and train our doctors and nurses.”
The minister raised another concern with the British
government and Department of Health regarding the
selection of Iraqi candidates for medical training
visits to the UK. Dr. Yones said after the meeting,
“At present the KRG and my ministry have no say in
the selection process, so I asked them to contact
the Kurdish medical associations in the UK who could
represent us. Otherwise there’s a danger that
doctors and nurses working in the Kurdistan Region
will miss out on the training.”
Dr. Yones also won assurances of more medical
training and resources while visiting Germany.
Representatives of Saarland University offered the
KRG 50 free doctoral scholarships. In Bonn, he met
members of the German Army, which offered to donate
a field hospital to Kurdistan. The minister said,
“The field hospital would be used to deal with
disasters or major accidents. We appreciate the
German Army’s donation.” He was assisted throughout
his visit by Kurdish doctors working in Germany.
krg org
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