3 April 2019 - Speaker Dr. Vala Farid and Deputy Speaker Hemin Hawrami yesterday welcomed health officials from the Directorate General of Health in Erbil, led by Director General Dr. Saman Barzinji.

The Speaker said that the Kurdistan Parliament understands the importance of public health services, saying that areas such as health that impact people’s daily lives are priorities for Parliament. Dr. Farid briefed the officials about the work of the Health, Environment and Consumer Rights Committee on scrutinizing the health sector, and proposing and reporting bills to Parliament’s Presidency. Parliament and the new government cabinet will make every effort to reform health and other sectors in the Kurdistan Region, she said.

Deputy Speaker Hawrami also welcomed the health officials and reassured them that Parliament understands the importance of an advanced healthcare system for the Kurdistan Region, which can learn from the experiences of other countries. Mr. Hawrami said that the problem of some imported medicines failing to meet international standards needs coordination between Parliament and government, strong follow-up and preventive measures.