Paediatric unit and outpatient departent open for patients in Hawija General Hospital

 

Inside the outpatient department of the recently renovated paediatric unit and outpatient department in Hawija

Baghdad, 12 March 2019 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and Kirkuk Directorate of Health today inaugurated a paediatric unit and outpatient department in Hawija General Hospital in the Kirkuk governorate.

The outpatient department in the hospital sustained significant damage during the conflict in Hawija in 2014‒2017. It has since been completely renovated and a paediatric unit which comprises a number of pre-fabricated buildings with a 25-bed capacity supports the delivery of extended paediatric health services in the facility.

The interior of doctors' sleeping quarters in Hawija General Hospital The project also covered the rehabilitation of the doctors’ call, or sleep room. A wide range of medical technologies, including emergency room and operating theatre equipment, more than 30 tons of medicines, medical consumables and kits of different treatment and surgical units were also provided as part of the project.

“WHO will continue supporting the Ministry of Health in its endeavour to rehabilitate health facilities destroyed by over 4 years of fighting in many governorates in Iraq,” said Dr Adham Rashad Ismail, acting WHO Representative in Iraq. “We are keen to ensure the full access of vulnerable populations in affected areas to adequate health care services,” he added.

The hospital, the only health facility in the district, will provide access to a complete package of specialized health care services to approximately 200 000 residents of the district, including internally displaced persons and returnees from different areas of Kirkuk.

The renovation project, which began in November 2018, was completed in the record time of 4 months in February 2019 with funding from the United States Agency for International Development.