Kurdistan National Congress rapporteur warns of drug shortage in Sulaymaniyah

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A rapporteur with the Kurdistan National Congress has warned that Sulaymaniyah could face a serious drug shortage within a month, accusing the Kurdistan Regional Government of handing parts of the health sector to private companies without tender. Speaking at a press conference in Sulaymaniyah, Ali Hema Salih said the import, quality control and labeling of medicines had been transferred to private firms without competitive bidding, driving up costs. He added that while medicines enter the Kurdistan Region via Erbil, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan officials had not authorized their onward transfer to Sulaymaniyah, and that supplies could run out within a month if the situation persists. Salih also said some state hospital laboratories, including those handling cancer screenings, had been outsourced under ten-year contracts to private companies and that he was in possession of the relevant documents. He addressed fuel matters separately, alleging that the Kurdistan Region receives 50,000 barrels of oil per day from Baghdad and that part of the refined output is exported to Turkey via Turkish tankers and drivers. He relayed that the federal government had proposed supplying the region with gasoline at 450 dinars per liter in exchange for allowing the export of that 50,000-barrel volume.