A discriminatory Iraqi health care system that serviced a select few is being transformed by the renewed Iraq Ministry of Health to ensure affordable health care regardless of ethnicity, gender, geographic origin or religious affiliation, says interim Minister of Health Khudair Abbas.
Speaking to reporters on December 16, 2003 at the National Press Club in Washington, Abbas said the centralized and mismanaged health care system of Saddam Hussein excluded thousands of Iraqis.
Only $16 million was allocated to the Ministry of Health in 2002, he said, and a "self-finance" or "fee for service" system implemented from 1997 put health care out of the reach of most Iraqis. "Many Iraqis, especially those of the lower social class died, because they couldn't afford paying for hospitals or surgical operations," said Abbas. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
