79 Iraqi patients arrive in Turkey for treatment

By Izzet Taskiran

ISTANBUL (AA) - A total of 79 patients, including infants and children, were brought to Turkey on Saturday for treatment upon the request of Iraqi authorities.

The patients will be treated for heart, eye, plastic reconstructive and general surgery diseases.

The project that Medicana Hospitals have been conducting with the Iraqi Health Ministry for the last 10 years had been paused due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Upon Iraqi authorities’ request, the project has been put into effect again. The treatment process is being carried out with all sorts of precautions against COVID-19.

The patients along with their families were transferred to Istanbul with a special flight, welcomed by hospital staff at the airport and taken to hospital.

“Our 149 passengers have come from Iraq. Among them are 65 patients who will undergo pediatric cardiovascular surgical process. Most of them are infants,” Mehmet Ersoy, the international services and projects director of the hospital, told Anadolu Agency.

Ersoy added that Turkey has made significant improvements in public and private health sector. “Turkey is appreciated in the world especially for the studies that we conducted during the COVID-19 period.”

He said the patients will return to Iraq once they recover.

*Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara