Materia Medica Malaysiana

MRCS To Send A Team To Iraq

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Red Crescent Society will send a team to Iraq early next year to assist in the redevelopment of the Baghdad Hospital complex damaged in the Iraq War.
Its Deputy Chairman Hisham Harun Hashim said the team, comprising four or five members, including a specialist, would be at the war-torn country between two and six months.
"We are awaiting security clearance from the Malaysian Government and Iraqi authorities. If everything goes on smoothly as planned, the team will leave for Iraq in February," he told reporters after attending a Hari Raya Aidilfitri function hosted by the society here Sunday.
Hisham said sending the team to Iraq was an initial step of the society's long-term plan to assist in the rebuilding of Iraq, including providing training to nurses and health workers of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society.
"We are not only sending representatives to Iraq but staff of the Iraq Red Crescent Society are also invited to Malaysia for training," he said.
This is the third time a team is being sent to Iraq after the Iraq War. The first and second teams focused their activities outside Baghdad.
For a start, the team would help revive the midwifery and paediatric sections of the hospital, the main requirement in Iraq, he said.
The society had allocated RM3 million for the mission, he said.
Asked on the MRCS' planning for the next five years, Hisham said it aimed to collect between RM50 and RM60 million for its fund.
He said the society spent between RM5 and RM6 million a year from the fund, much of it raised through public donations and contributions.
"Our five-year plan is divided into four main activities -- disaster management, healthcare planning, community service and promoting human values and development of MRCS.
"We also planned to hold first-aid training programmes in government offices and companies," he added.