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Iraq

LIFE teams-up with German NGO to upgrade healthcare center in Basra, Iraq

LIFE for Relief and Development in cooperation with the International Humanitarian Help Organization of Germany (IHH) will be upgrading LIFE's healthcare center in Basra.

LIFE established the center in 2001 and since its inception; the clinic has provided services to over 100,000 residents of Al-Hakimiyya and its surrounding areas. Although the upgrade aims to provide better services for all patients, the main focus will be the construction of a maternity and children's hospital that will serve more than 200,000 people in Al-Hakimiyya, Tuwaisa, Junaina and Al-Andalus.

Currently, the clinic operates three hours a day due to limited resources. However, during these three hours, doctors at the facility see an average of 50 patients per day. At its current state and with the shortage of diagnostic equipment and advanced medical instruments, the clinic was still rated the best in Basra by the local health authority.

Adjacent land to the current building has been purchased and the hospital will be modified and another two-story building will be constructed to add 20 patient rooms, one operating room, one baby delivery room, a dental facility and a eye examination facility among others.

This expansion will ensure 12 beds for a new maternity ward, which will provide 5 incubators. Also, the hospital will implement an immunization system in coordination with UNICEF and the Iraqi Ministry of Health.

The total cost of this project is estimated at $360,000 and will be completed by the year 2007.