Health Policy: The New Taboo in Kurdistan!

The Minister of Health in the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a lawsuit against me in the court of Erbil city. Dr. Tahir Hewramy, The Minster of Health, is asking for 200,000,000 Iraqi dinars which is equivalent to about $20,000.00 in compensation for the "damage" I incurred upon the Ministry of Health.
The source of all of this noise by the Ministry is that I had recently said in a magazine interview that the decision by the Ministry of Health to raise the fee doctors charge in their private clinics is "illegal, unscientific and unethical".
The Minister of health decided in an order that holds his own signature on 27th of April 2010, to raise the fee doctors charge in their private clinics. The order had resulted in a wide outcry and condemnation by civil society organization who managed or organize a campaign against the decision and were able in a matter of a week to collect 16 thousands signatures of angry people against the decision.
My fault was that I characterized the decision as "illegal, unscientific and unethical" and below is a description of why I said that.
The decision in itself is an illegal move by the Ministry of Health. According to the laws of the Kurdistan Parliament and specifically Bill number 15 of the year 2007; the Ministry of Health is not responsible for regulating the fees of the private market health activities. In another word, there are no specific provisions in that bill that award the Ministry the authority to intervene in the regulation of the fees that health professionals charge in return for the services they provide. Another Bill (number 6 of the year 2000) authorizes the Doctor's Syndicate to regulate the private activities of doctors including the fees they charge in their private clinics. Specifically, the constitution of the Syndicate indicates that only the general congress of the body can determine how much doctors can charge their clients in their clinics.
Besides, the Kurdistan Regional Government through its Prime Minister, Ministers and other officials, announced more than once that it is adopting an open market policy. The Minister's move to fix doctors fees in some areas and raise it in others are in direct conflict with the free market economy claims of the government and it may alienate foreign investors in the health care system of Kurdistan.
The decision by the Minister of Health is also unscientific. The World Health Organization identified a number of tasks for Ministries of Health around the world which include but are not limited to; helping to remove economic hurdles in access to health care, attending to the principle of equity in health care provision and trying to engage citizens in health policy decisions. The Ministry's decision is contradictory to all of those principles.
Furthermore, form the ethical point of view, the Ministry of Health should act for the best interests of the people. Everyone knows that the people of Kurdistan had suffered a lot from chemical attacks, torture, economic and social devastation. The people here are suffering from the physical and mental health and social consequences of decades if not centuries of violence and mistreatment and they are in need for a health care system that rises up to their expectations and needs. We need a health system that is putting the patient at the center of its interests. I don’t see any ethical bases for raising doctor fees in the private market by a governmental body given the socio-economic status of the majority of the population in the region.
I strongly demand that the Minister of Health withdraw his lawsuit and try to communicate his policies and actions in a more civil way. It would have been much better if the Minister could take the time to explain his policies to me and the people in a TV, newspaper, magazine or radio interview just like I did. That would have served him better and could have saved him the headache of all those phone calls from the media about my case.