Dr. Qahraman Mohammed, 25, told al-Monitor, “I know three or four doctors who quit last year, and I know about 10 others who are planning on leaving the country. And if you ask the ones not making plans, they are definitely still thinking about it. More than 95% of the doctors here want to go abroad. Myself included.” He said he knew at least one physician trying to make his way to Europe through illegal means.
The capacities of the Health Ministry didn’t meet the needs of Dahuk’s home community even before the crisis, and the sudden influx of displaced families became hard to cope with. He said that if Dahuk had not had international support, "our health system would have collapsed.”
Then things got worse when an increasing number of doctors either quit medicine, joined the private sector or chose to emigrate, partly due to economic reasons.
The collapse of oil prices, the war against IS and a freeze on subsidies from Baghdad — not to mention persistent corruption — have wreaked havoc on Iraqi Kurdistan's finances, which in return cut the salaries of most government employees to reduce spending. Physicians now only receive between 25% to 40% of their monthly wages, and even then they only get paid every month and a half, Ismet said. Sometimes they only get paid every three months, Mohammed said.
There is currently one physician for every 2,500 people in the province, according to the Health Ministry’s director. Ismet said that the number of needed junior doctors amounts to 160.
Mohammed said, “You would expect this in Darfur, Yemen or Aleppo. Our situation is not much better than theirs. A disaster is in the making.”
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