Iraq records first death of Cholera, infections reach 76
Al-Salam Teaching Hospital in Nineveh governorate. Photo: UNDP Iraq
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday it recorded the first death from cholera disease in Kirkuk governorate.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Saif Al-Badr, in a statement to the state television, said that the ministry recorded 17 new cases of cholera in the past 24 hours. He added that with these new cases, the total number of infections becomes 76 since the beginning of 2022.
Badr elaborated that cholera spread in Iraq, especially in the governorates of Sulaymaniyah and Erbil in the northern part of the country during the past days, the thing that prompted the Ministry of Health of Kurdistan Region to take measures to prevent the spread of the disease.
Badr also stressed the importance of adhering to the preventive measures, paying attention to personal hygiene, and washing hands before and after eating and after using bathrooms.
The Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, decided to allocate 800 million dinars (more than 500 thousand USD) as an emergency budget to combat ‘diarrhea and cholera’ in Sulaymaniyah.
The Health and Environment Committee of the Iraqi Parliament called for the allocation of financial support to the Ministry of Health to confront the outbreak of cholera in Iraq and Kurdistan Region.