BAGHDAD –Yarmouk Hospital, Iraq's second largest hospital, has made many new upgrades to its facility within the last few years according to two local doctors. The burn center wa reconstructed, a new emergency center was built and a new three-story burn center will be built within the next few years.
"The good thing about all this new construction is, it is being done without U.S. tax dollars," said Capt. Kenneth Johnson, from Fort Riley, Kan., a brigade surgeon, assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,1st Infantry Division. "Stimulated by the Coalition force, the ministry of health has organized, made a budget and developed a strategy to make these changes in its facilities," he added.
Because the conditions in Iraq are improving and the ministry of health is beginning to take on more of a financial burden, the CF can assist the country in other ways such as helping to train the physicians of Iraq.
"One way to help the Iraq Ministry of Health make a better transition is with academic conferences," Johnson said.
"Today is the first of many academic conferences that will be held in Iraq and it is a great honor for me to be a part of the re-development of the health system here," said Johnson. "These conferences will assist the physicians to regain one of the most important elements of academic sciences that have been missing in Iraqi medicine over the past decade under Saddam's regime."
The academic conference at the Yarmouk Hospital, April 2, is one way to continue to help educate medical students and enhance the medical treatment of the Iraqi people, Johnson added.
"The conference gives physicians a forum to talk about the most recent advances in medicine, scientific research and studies," Johnson continued. "It also provides an opportunity for local health care providers and small clinics to come to the hospital and connect with [their] hospital counterparts in a centralized conference."
According to an Iraqi doctor who works at the hospital, the conferences will greatly benefit the Iraqi people. Doctors can come from small communities all over Iraq and take the knowledge gained and new technology obtained during the conferences to improve the treatment for their patients.
A colleague of the Iraqi doctor added that the conferences can enhance preventive medicine measures. This week the ministry of health will provide immunizations to many of the poor people of Iraq.
Inspired by the CF, the Iraqi Ministry of Health has taken great strides toward becoming more independent by taking over the financial burden of improving its health system. This is a huge step for the ministry of health helping Iraq to become more self-sufficient.