Umm Salam* sits on the ground outside her family’s home in Sadr City, a crowded district of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad. She holds her granddaughter, Zainab*, close, wrapped in her abaya, recalling the young girl’s recovery from tuberculosis (TB). As part of a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) programme to detect TB early in children, through a … Read more
AL-UBOR, MOSUL – In a corner of west Mosul in Iraq, an area often overlooked by public services, Al-Ubor health center stands as a vital sanctuary for families seeking access to essential healthcare. Since its opening in July 2023, the center has been a lifeline for many in Al-Ubor, where approximately 30,000 people that face … Read more
It is a rainy morning in the Al-Nahwaran d a group of women are lining the neighbourhood of Mosul, Iraq’s second-biggest city, and in front of a small medical facility. The stormy weather has not stopped them from coming. The bellies of some of the women speak for the reason of their visit. Mariam, a … Read more
At the end of July 2020 in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, something strange started happening. In hospitals across the city, the doctors and nurses sweating in the Iraqi summer heat noticed that while their COVID-19 intensive care units were ever full, the wards for people with less severe cases were emptying out. “The hospitals had been over-capacity … Read more
AMSTERDAM – Early yesterday morning, trucks arrived at Laylan displaced people’s camp, in Kirkuk governorate, Iraq, in preparation for moving residents back to their areas of origin. Camp residents have expressed their fears of being returned against their will to staff from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF, who is providing healthcare in the camp, is deeply … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic has become very alarming in Iraq, with the country currently reporting close to 4,000 new cases every day and around 500 deaths a week. Over the past month alone, more than 100,000 cases have been identified in the country. And on 23 September, 5,055 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, representing the highest daily rate in … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on the Yazidi community in the Sinjar district of northwest Iraq. Although there are not many cases recorded in the area, the restrictive measures adopted in Iraq (as in many other countries worldwide) to curb the spread of the virus are burdening the daily lives and well being of an … Read more
Iraq has long suffered from war and political instability. The most recent conflict ended in 2017, when Mosul was recaptured after almost three years under the control of the Islamic State (IS) group. Three years later, the consequences of the conflicts in Mosul are still evident. One is the terrible impact on medical care, as many health facilities … Read more
As protests continue to rock the southern Iraq city of Nasiriyah, the capital of Dhi Qaar province, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) continues to extend a hand to local hospitals. MSF is helping these facilities scale up their preparedness for mass casualty incidents, whether due to recent violence accompanying the protests or any other event … Read more
It’s 2016 and the battle for Mosul has just begun, with Iraqi forces sweeping through Mosul from the east. Street by street, a city that has been under the control of the Islamic State (IS) group for over two years is retaken by the Iraqi government. The sun has not yet risen when Intissar, a … Read more