Only a sharp but relatively recent rise in Iraq’s oil revenues has created the chance to change this grim picture. Iraq’s budget for health care this year is forecast at approximately $12bn (approaching Iraq’s 1996 GDP, adjusting for inflation.) As many as 20 new hospitals and 30 specialised health centres are planned and per capita expenditure on health has now surpassed $300. The key question is, does this translate into a comparable rise in the quality of state health care provision? Where is Iraq’s health care system heading, and what opportunities are there for foreign companies?
Answering some of these questions is Saif al-Jaibeji, a physician and healthcare executive who graduated from Baghdad Medical College. Al-Jaibeji is a former health policy maker and a regional adviser on health system modernization, and set up the NGO Iraq Health, a nonprofit think tank led by a group of senior healthcare and health policy makers, dedicated to improving the health system in Iraq by improving the private sector’s role. Iraq Health organizes annual conferences, symposiums and exhibitions in Iraq and the region.
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