Supporting Preventative Healthcare at Maryamana Hospital – 2024

With funding from Embrace Middle East and implementation through the Ankawa Humanitarian Committee (AHC), this project aims to strengthen preventative healthcare at Maryamana Hospital by focusing on breast and cervical cancer screening for vulnerable women.

Iraq’s healthcare system remains underdeveloped and overstretched, with limited focus on preventative medicine. Refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and impoverished communities, especially in Ankawa and the Nineveh Plain, struggle to access basic medical services due to high unemployment and financial hardship. Preventative healthcare is often ignored, leading many to accept illness as an inevitable consequence of poverty.

Through this project, the Archdiocese of Erbil, via AHC, is raising awareness and providing free screenings for breast and cervical cancer, two of the most common and preventable cancers affecting women. Community outreach efforts, including church leaflets, social media, Maryamana Radio, and word of mouth, inform women of these lifesaving services.

By addressing both immediate medical needs and preventative care, this initiative ensures that vulnerable women receive early diagnosis and treatment, ultimately improving health outcomes and reinforcing the importance of proactive healthcare in a resource-limited environment.