Today, Monday, Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, received at the Ministry’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, Dr. Adnan Burhan Al-Juhaishi, Chairman of the Anti-Narcotics Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, and Dr. Ahmed Nayef Rashid Al-Dulaimi, Iraq’s Ambassador to Egypt and Permanent Representative of Iraq to the League of Arab States, and their accompanying delegation, to discuss Ways of cooperation and transfer of Egyptian experience in the field of addiction treatment.
Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, explained that the meeting dealt with ways to benefit from the Egyptian experience, especially in laws and legislation regulating anti-drug programmes, as the Iraqi delegation demanded that the concerned authorities in Egypt review Law No. 50 of 2017 entitled “Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances” in Iraq and cooperation in reformulating the law and conducting legislative reviews on it. The delegation also called for reviewing the latest developments in the Egyptian anti-narcotics law, given its leadership in drafting legislation, laws and regulations.
Abdul Ghaffar added that the Iraqi delegation visited – during its visit to Egypt – some health centers specialized in treating addiction, and the delegation was briefed on the mechanism of examining patients and the treatment programs provided to them. Abdul Ghaffar pointed out that the Iraqi delegation was keen to benefit from the training programs granted by the Ministry to psychologists and therapists. The delegation demanded that accredited workshops and training courses be held for specialists from the Iraqi side, noting that the Minister directed to enroll medical cadres among them in the Addiction Treatment Fellowship and the Arab Board until These cadres are qualified to lead the recovery system.
Abdul Ghaffar indicated that the minister directed the ministry’s officials to coordinate technical matters in all procedures with the Iraqi side in terms of training programs and to send a team to inspect Iraqi health facilities.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Mohamed Hassani, Assistant Minister of Health and Population for Public Health Initiatives, Dr. Menen Abdel Maksoud, Secretary General of the General Secretariat for Mental Health, Dr. Suzan Zanati, Head of the Central Department for External Health Relations, Ms. Effat Khalifa, Adviser to the Minister of Health and Population for International Relations and Community Communication, and Dr. Hatem Amer, Assistant Minister for International Relations, and members of the Anti-Narcotics Committee in the Iraqi Parliament.