KurdistanObserver.com

Medical Leadership in Northern Iraq

Dr. Joseph Agris, head of the Healthcare and Family Safety Program of the next Rebuilding Iraq Conference in Washington, DC, sees a "culture of medicine" taking root in Northern Iraq.
(I-Newswire) - The 5th Rebuilding Iraq Conference, to be held in Washington, DC, December 1-2, 2005, will feature a special program entitled, "Public Safety and Health in the New Iraq." This will be the first time that all industry sectors within Iraq and the reconstruction community can address the family safety and healthcare crises in Iraq.

Healthcare participants in this program are committed  to serving the people of Iraq by promoting throughout Iraq a culture of medicine that teaches compassionate care, supports healthy living and encourages medical leadership. The conference will examine ways this process can start immediately in Northern Iraq.

While daily street violence cripples most of Iraq, the Iraqi Kurds to the north enjoy a relatively peaceful democracy and a burgeoning economy. They are also openly grateful for the liberation of their country.

Now they plan to give back to the international community by sharing valuable medical research based on their exposure to weapons of mass destruction under Saddam Hussein. With funding from corporate partners and private donors, doctors in Iraqi Kurdistan can now begin to understand the long-term effects of potential bioterrorist weapons, and they hope their search for antidotes, treatments and cures will help other populations be better prepared for attack, emergency response and mass casualty recovery.

The study of the Iraqi Kurdish experience over successive generations may also offer important contributions to the world cancer market. Since the time of the chemical attacks in the 80s, Iraqi Kurds in some areas have experienced a high incidence of a wide range of cancers: head, neck, respitory tract, skin, gastrointestinal tract, leukemias and lymphomas ( especially in children ), and reproductive, including breast and ovarian cancer.

By developing expertise in cancer care and partnering with companies looking to make significant breakthroughs in the cure or control of key cancers, Iraqi Kurdistan may find a way to not only cope with unresolved historical grief but also fund top-to-bottom improvement of its entire healthcare sector.

To help Northern Iraq set the stage for this unique leadership role in world medicine, several humanitarian, healthcare and economic initiatives must first be aggressively expanded with international assistance.

The 5th Rebuilding Iraq Conference identifies seven prerequisites for a sustainable Iraqi culture of medicine:

1. Northern Iraq must act now to obtain desperately needed medical supplies and services for all of its hospitals and clinics -- in spite of reconstruction delays in other parts of Iraq.

2. Iraqi physicians must be trained by leading physicians and surgeons worldwide in latest and advanced medical treatments and surgical procedures.

3. The medical community in Northern Iraq must be adequately funded to not only handle the normal needs of a growing population but also implement a long-term victim rehabilitation program that restores the human condition of the Iraqi Kurd and provides compassionate care for survivors as well as terminal patients.

4. Iraq must join the international medical community in an exchange network based on learning value, and establish broadband connectivity to facilitate communication, coordination and collaboration with global partners.

5. A broad range of stakeholders must together adopt a high performance healthcare information system and use it as an agent for change to dramatically improve the way patient care is managed throughout Iraq.

6. The healthcare sector must work in concert with other sectors, such as human rights, the environment and agriculture, and promote new business opportunities for Iraqis, such as nationwide distribution of medications and medical supplies, and information technology support for a widely implemented healthcare information system.

7. Partnerships must be established with sponsors and all forms of media and public outreach to promote healthy habits and healthy living, with the goal of raising the life expectancy of Iraqis by seven years within the next generation.

The purpose of the Health Program of the 5th Rebuilding Iraq Conference is to assist Iraq in meeting these seven prerequisites. Partnerships for immediate implementation are encouraged, particularly in the safer regions of Northern Iraq.

These partnerships will seek funding through cash and in-kind contributions from members of the Iraq reconstruction community and the international medical community. Funding mechanisms will include solicitation of outright donations, grant awards and sole-source contracts, non-profit lending programs, microinvestment funds, corporate sponsorships, fees charged for trade events or publications, public-private partnerships, and private investment and countertrade agreements in Northern Iraq.

Dr. Joseph Agris, Chair
Public Safety and Health in the New Iraq
The 5th Rebuilding Iraq Conference
December 1-2, 2005
Washington, DC
http://www.safetyissues.org/iraq