A Response to the MOH reply to an Earlier Article of Mine in Hawlati/ Translation by Hemin Sabir

The Ministry of Health media agency published a response on the Hawlati newspaper (number 557) to my article on the same newspaper (number 555) which I wrote under the title of “Information schizophrenia of the Ministry of Health”. The response is a tirade of defamation and accusation of myself and is otherwise devoid of useful information to what we already know.

The ministry and its employees, including the minster himself, should be well aware that it is the legitimate right of any citizen of this region to monitor and criticize the ministry over its actions and inactions. This is not only a basic human right, but - especially the MOH concerned - a national obligation. The level of apprehension at the MOH for such a direct criticism is not surprising, given the failure of the dysfunctional last parliament in monitoring and holding government ministries accountable to their duties. It is therefore understandable that a citizen poking at MOH strategies towards the swine-flu threat should arouse such a shock. The time has come for officials to abandon their marble castles and succumb to public inquiry, and to acknowledge that our people are conscious enough to ask and inquire.

The MOH-media relations have palm-read their conclusion of myself not being a doctor, seemingly oblivious to the fact that when health is concerned anyone can question, even a lay person. It seems from this gesture that ordinary people are more conscious of personal health and its requirements than the minister himself. Indeed their retort is very much reminiscent of a haughty doctor dismissing a patient’s question by claiming “am I the doctor or you?”, and ultimately denying the patient the right for information. This policy used by the ministry to defame and belittle those who question, is a rotten totalitarian strategy that is doomed to failure.

In this respect one wouldn’t need to be medically certified to conclude that the Minister’s declarations on the government electronic pages that “we have the capacity to put 500,000 patients under medical observation” – is at best a murky statement that needs further clarification. These people accuse me of ignorance while themselves indulging in the mistake of equating medical care with the administration of Tamiflu®, and still expecting us to sheepishly acquiesce. Moreover, they acknowledge while accusing me of ignorance - that no system can properly put such a number of patients at observation – all the while turning a blind eye to the same misinformation given by their minister. May we ask further how many epidemiologists and infectious disease people have been consulted about this (swine flu) or other common transmissible disease in Kurdistan?

In another part of the retort they talk about “a proper, meticulous and open policy of the MOH” towards the problem – may we ask what policy? What policy does the MOH have towards cholera, child and maternal death during labour, female genital mutilation and mental health – let alone swine flu? What the ministry does is totally divorced from health policy and planning. Instead, the ministry and its head are not different from any other government cleric working in the office and ignoring the field – being preoccupied with signatures and routines and paperwork while ignorant of healthcare in Kurdistan. If this the policy adopted by the MOH then I guarantee you that it is nothing but a recipe for a public health disaster. It is imperative that the ministry reviews its policies and amend its strategies. From my expertise as a health policymaker – without schooling others – I suggest to the parliament and KRG that this ministry is no longer useful and it demands change. The MOH should be chiseled into a Ministry for Public Health, while abandoning the routine works (like administrative jobs, human resources etc) to the local Departments of Health (DOH).

An MOH still using technology from the mid-Twentieth century, with a computer spotted only in the print room – can hardly be expected to adequately face the current – urgent and demanding - health issues. I am surprised at the MOH-media relations having failed to establish an effective website or e-mail service yet having the nerve to brazenly boast an “open and meticulous policy”. They accuse us for being ill-read and ignorant of their “good achievements” while not acknowledging that much of these would have been impossible without the aid/supervision from the WHO, UNICEF and other NGO’s and organizations. You might accuse as of schooling you if we were to ask again how is health policy made without data, and in which domain have the MOH used meticulous data collection and analysis? Your claim that health systems in developed countries have stopped collecting data on infected cases is another misinformation from your media aimed at eluding the people and stifling public inquiry. Health specialists and ordinary people alike are thirsty for data and numbers, and if you can’t do the job properly yourself then it is no shame to request aid from NGO’s as you are so used to.

I would also like to ask about the stock of medications provided, and how it is distributed? Whether the PCR-technology that is claimed by the MOH is indeed used or not? What is the plan for those elderly “Hajjajs” who will come back soon? Will they all be tested? Has a database been established by the ministry of cases who were confirmed positive and improved/deceased, including demographics? These are a dozen of other questions are awaiting a response, and we will not go silent until we get a proper one.

Our humanitarian instinct and national responsibility demands a clearer and more effective approach from the MOH towards the health problems of our region. Furthermore, the MOH should be willing to acknowledge and instructively answer any question or inquiry from myself or any other member of the public.