Through this initiative, a population of over one million civilians has now access to mobile emergency medical services provided through two emergency management coordination centers (ECC). The centers are supported by a network of newly procured ambulances staffed by trained paramedics who work in coordination with the centers control rooms operators round the clock.
“As military operations progress towards the old city in west Mosul, there is a sharp increase in number of displaced populations who require urgent humanitarian response” said Altaf Musani, WHO Representative for Iraq. “WHO has mobilized all available resources to scale up its support to the national health authorities to respond to the increasing health needs for trauma care, primary health care and referral services. The scale of required support is vast given the presence of nearly four million IDPs and over 225 000 Syrian Refugees distributed to camps in governorates of Erbil, Dahok, Suleimaniyah, and the recently liberated areas in Ninewa” Mr. Musani added.
“We hope that our contribution will help capacity building of emergency medical personnel and save lives of vulnerable people in Iraq as many as possible,” said H.E. Mr. Fumio Iwai, Ambassador of Japan to Iraq. “This assistance is part of Japan’s commitment made in the pledging conference in support of Iraq held in Washington DC in July 2016. Japan has provided grant assistance to Iraq, amounting approximately 350 million US dollars for IDPs, refugees and host communities affected by ISIL”, Mr. Iwai added.
The donation is very timely and will allow WHO to respond to the increasing demand for essential health care services reported from eight refugee and over 20 IDP camps located in different areas of Erbil, Suleimaniya, and Duhok governorates in addition to a big number of displaced populations living with host communities particularly in Debaga, Qushtapa, Bahirka, Diana, Basirma and Shaqlawa districts. WHO and health partners have appealed earlier this year for US$ 110 million needed to support health care interventions for 6.2 million people Iraq-wide. The current funding gap of 85% will leave millions of people with limited access to essential and life-saving medical care including those at risk of physical and emotional lifelong disabilities.
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