Shafaq News / The representative of the World Health Organization in Iraq, Dr. Adham Ismail, expressed on Tuesday his optimism about Kurdistan Region's capacity to control COVID-19 pandemic , indicating the organization's willingness to help the region obtain a vaccine for the virus.

In a joint press conference he held with Dr. Saman Al-Barzanji, Minister of Health in Kurdistan Regional Government, upon the completion of his services, Ismail said that the health institutions and the Ministry of Health in Kurdistan were very cooperative with the organization, as they prepared a plan for the relief of the displaced and refugees in the region.

Ismail attributed the responsibility of the surge of COVID-19 cases to the health institutions partly, but stressed that the citizens must adhere to the preventive measures, "It is good that until now, the region's hospitals do not suffer from a lack of oxygen."

"from the beginning, we started awareness campaigns and we noticed that the citizens in Kurdistan did not adhere to preventive measures," Ismail continued.

He added, "I am optimistic that the region will control the pandemic and there is good cooperation from Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, in this Regard."

The  WHO representative said, "during this period, the organization opened three COVID-19 centers in Erbil, Al-Sulaymaniyah and Duhok. I am optimistic that this cooperation will continue and we will continue to support the Ministry of Health as much as we can."

He added, "We will help the region to conclude contracts with international companies to obtain the vaccine. However, so far, no vaccine has obtained the  approval of the World Health Organization."

The representative of world health concluded his conference by saying, "I am optimistic that we will get the vaccine for the region. However, there will be no vaccine this Winter and the citizens must abide."