Mental Health in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous area in the north of Iraq with a population of approximately five million people. Mental health practice in Kurdistan is relatively recent. The first initiative to build a mental health service dates back to the late 1970s. During the early 1980s, two specialist psychiatrists launched a new service in Erbil. Mental health, like many other services, crumbled after the destruction of Iraq following three decades of war, sanctions and civil strife that led to a severe decline in the health system. The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) built a new psychiatric unit. In 2009, a new psychiatric hospital was established in Sulaimanyah followed by a second one in 2012 in the same city while a third one was established in the capital Erbil in early 2013. In Kurdistan, there are many initiatives to build a healthier mental health system, but the situation remains far from perfect. In the first instance, it was important to separate the main psychiatric hospital in Sulaimanyah from the general hospital.