Shafaq News- Mosul

A shortage of cancer medicines has disrupted treatment in Iraq's Ninevehprovince after import delays and a sharp drop in government funding, theprovince's health director said on Wednesday.

Dilshad Ali, director general of Nineveh's Health Directorate, toldShafaq News that recent border and airport closures had forced the state-runKimadia drug procurement company to suspend contracts, delaying deliveries ofessential medicines. He said the company had only recently resumed a limitednumber of shipments.

Ali said the more serious challenge was a lack of funding for biologicaland cancer medicines, which are purchased entirely through allocations from theHealth Ministry.

"The latest monthly allocation for the oncology program was only 3million Iraqi dinars (about $1,950)," he said, adding that the amount wasinsufficient to cover the cost of a single injection for the province'soncology hospital and affiliated facilities, including Al-Hayyan and Ibn Sinahospitals.

He said the Nineveh Health Directorate had repeatedly requested fullmonthly funding but had yet to receive it, leaving hundreds of patients withoutaccess to essential treatment.

Health authorities across Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, havereported recurring shortages of cancer medicines, forcing many patients topurchase treatment from private pharmacies at significantly higher prices. Internationally, 191 people per 100,000 are typically diagnosed with cancer.

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