Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq will include a clause in the 2027 budget to appoint contract resident doctors and increase their current contract salaries, Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi stated on Saturday.

Al-Zaidi also directed a review of the laws, regulations, and instructions governing resident doctors’ service and instructed authorities to study adjustments that reflect the nature of their work and the difficulties they face.

On June 3, the Health Ministry announced that it had received a letter from the Finance Ministry to fund contract doctors from the 2023 and 2024 graduating classes.

Health Minister Abdul Hussein Al-Moussawi also announced that procedures had been completed to release three months of delayed salaries for rotating resident doctors into the ministry’s account, and confirmed immediate directives to include the doctors in subsistence allowances and said the ministry was studying a flexible transfer plan between provinces and health departments.

In Kirkuk, doctors organized a third protest on Saturday in solidarity with resident doctors, demanding permanent appointments and payment of financial dues. Doctor Mohammed Fateh Haseeb told Shafaq News that the protest was not aimed at disruption, but was motivated by professional responsibility and concern for the future of Iraq’s health system.

“The resident doctor is the beating nerve of hospitals,” he said, noting that resident doctors carry much of the direct work with patients and serve as the link between patients and specialists.

Haseeb warned that delays in appointing new resident doctors could weaken the health system, increase pressure on current doctors, raise burnout levels, and create the risk of unintended medical errors caused by excessive workloads. Continued delays in appointments would also create a training and knowledge gap that could threaten the future of specialized medical staff in Iraq.

Earlier today, doctors and medical staff also held a protest outside the Doctors Syndicate building in Al-Anbar, demanding the release of delayed financial dues and monthly salaries. Protest organizers told Shafaq News that salaries had been delayed for more than five consecutive months and called on the authorities to release the payments and appoint them to permanent positions.

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