Overall Information

The health care system in Iraq is administrated by the Ministry of Health and supported by ORHA.

Prior to ORHA involvement, the ministry leadership was comprised of an appointed minister and 23 directors general. Until the people of Iraq elect their own government, the ORHA senior advisor to the ministry will oversee the administration of health care at approximately 1,200 facilities in 18 provinces throughout Iraq.

The senior advisor works closely with the director of the Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council (IRDC) for Health, the directors general and the coalition executive council. The executive council includes members from all branches of the U.S. armed forces, USAID and UNICEF.

The directors general staff positions are designated according to functional areas of responsibilities, including: administration, finance, facilities, legal affairs, kamadia (medical logistics), preventive medicine, public health clinics, popular medical clinic, medical city, technical affairs, engineering, planning, health education, environmental affairs, inspections, Yarmook hospitals, heart transplant institute, heart institute, digestive institute, neurology institute and the plastic surgery institute.

The recent coalition policy of de-Baathification has opened up nine vacancies on the directors general staff. New directors will be selected through a democratic selection process.

All selections will be for an interim period and no senior Baath party members will be permitted to serve in the ministry.

The senior advisor initiated and directed democratic selection processes throughout the healthcare network. The purpose of these democratic selection processes is to eliminate corruption, provide transparency and encourage free and open dialogue.

All hospital and clinic staffs, including those of military-staffed medical facilities, will hold democratic selections for representatives and representative assistants for all professional groups, to include specialist doctors, resident doctors, nurses, dentists, engineers, technicians and orderlies.

The representatives and representative assistants at each facility will form an advisory board, which has been charged with the task of selecting a specialist doctor to serve as the hospital director. Only specialist doctors will be considered. The advisory board will also meet periodically to advise the director.

These democratically selected directors will select two specialist doctors as nominees for a director general position at the ministry. The senior advisor will make the appointment.

Four resident doctors were selected in the first national democratic selection process on May 20. Two of these doctors (one Kurd and one Arab) will serve as ministry advisors; one doctor will work in the newly formed Complaint Department and one will work in the new Legal Investigations Department, which will work with law enforcement and legal officials to follow up on allegations of criminal activities.

Finally, all democratically selected representatives will serve the ministry in an advisory capacity.