Rarity of anaesthetists in Iraq poses problems

Iraqi anaesthesiologists take part in a sit-in protest Baghdad – Jaafar Al Nasrawy Anaesthetists in Iraq remain a rare coin despite the presence of more than one thousand public hospitals, and dozens of specialised and private hospitals. The shortage in anaesthetists and the need of this specialisation in the hospitals of the Iraqi Ministry of Health forced the Minister to contract with foreign doctors to fill this gap in the hospitals.
Dr Ziad Tariq, the spokesman of the Ministry of Health, told Arabstoday: “There is a shortage in the number of anaesthetists in the entire world, not only in Iraq. This made the Ministry revise a contract with 150 doctors from India to cover this issue in some hospitals that work much less than their capacity because of this lack of anaesthetists - especially in distant areas in some governorates.”
Dr Tariq referred the cause of the problem to the medical school students who don’t apply for this department stating: “The reason is that they are not allowed to open private clinics after their official working hours, in addition to the effort made by them during the operations. Of course no one can force them to join this department because it is their personal decision.”
Fawy told Arabstoday: “In 24 hours I anesthetized 22 pregnant women whose cases needed Caesarean sections, working in an obstetrics and gynaecology hospital. This means almost one hour in each operation.”
Fawy pointed out that anaesthetists face many difficulties in their work, in addition to the effort done through each surgery. The responsibility of the anaesthetists is huge and sometimes they are questioned in case a patient dies during the operation.
He added: “Even if the responsible in the Ministry of Health understands the case, the Iraqi society which is known of being tribal of course can’t understand the cause of death so they threaten the doctor to kill him for revenge.”
Dr Hatem Fawy added that this department is not encouraging for the students to join because they can practice it in private clinics, which may help increasing his income. So, the doctor remains limited to the monthly salary that doesn’t exceed three million Iraqi dinars ($2500). This salary hardly guarantees a living for the doctor and his family, so it reflects on the doctor’s mental health as he sees his other colleagues earning very much more than him.
Some anaesthetists tried to present their suffering in a gathering they once held in front of the Iraqi Minister of Health, but the results were not at the required level. The Ministry promised at the time to consider their suffering and arrange facilitations, but a ministerial decree was required from the Iraqi council of ministers to increase the salary levels of this segment, in addition to some allocations which make anaesthesiology a desired career. This was not approved by the council because it required legislative procedures from the Iraqi parliament.