Third Thalassemia patient dies in Kurdistan in a month due to medicine shortage
A shortage of medicines in the past months in the Region has negatively affected the condition of patients, namely those that suffer long-term illnesses such as Thalassemia.
Asiya Mohammed, a daughter of a Peshmerga fighter, was one of a few children in Kurdistan who suffer from Thalassemia.
In a previous interview with Kurdistan 24, she said her health condition had deteriorated, and she felt pain all over her body, which doctors said was due to the lack of medicines available related to her illness.
“I am not feeling fine. I have pain all over my body,” Asiya said, adding she was previously able to walk one kilometer but in the past two months had been unable to walk at all due to a shortage in medicine.
Asiya passed away on Saturday and was buried in a village near Erbil.
Speaking to Kurdistan 24 at her daughter’s grave, Asiya’s mother expressed her sadness.
“I am a very heartbroken mother. In the past six months, her medicine ran out, and we were unable to buy her more [due to the cost],” she said.
The government usually provided medication for Thalassemia patients, but the crisis in the region coupled with medicine shortages did not allow them to obtain the necessary drugs.
There are over 3,000 Thalassemia patients in the Region. In the past month, three have died due to a shortage of medicines, according to the Thalassemia group in Kurdistan.
Asiya’s father, who was also present at her grave, told Kurdistan 24 there were many parents like them experiencing the same feeling for not being able to provide the required medicine for their children.
“I call on the government to employ more doctors at the Thalassemia hospital. There are many patients like my daughter who might end up with the same fate if they are not helped,” he stated.
According to the Kurdistan Region’s Health Ministry, both Erbil and Baghdad are running out of Thalassemia medication.
“We have bought the medicines. Erbil’s share has arrived, and other provinces are expected to receive theirs soon,” Khalis Ahmed, a Health Ministry spokesperson, told Kurdistan 24 on Dec. 16.
Ties between Erbil and Baghdad have decreased following the Kurdistan Region’s Sep. 25 independence referendum.
Since then, the Iraqi government has carried out collective punitive measures against the Region, including economic embargos.
The Kurdistan Region is home to 1.5 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees from Iraq and Syria who fled the threat of the Islamic State (IS).
The number of displaced and refugees make up 30 percent of Kurdistan’s total population, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Kurdish health officials have often said the presence of refugees and IDPs has placed a burden on the Kurdistan Region, especially regarding the provision of basic services, shelters, and medicines.
In a press conference last month, KRG Health Minister Rekawt Rasheed revealed Kurdistan’s 2017 medicine share from Iraq had already been used as a large portion of the aid and services was provided to refugees and the displaced who settled in the Region.
He mentioned that they are in contact with the Federal Government of Iraq to receive additional medicines for people in Kurdistan, including refugees and IDPs.
