Council of Representatives lawmaker Muhammad Shayaa al-Sudani said on Monday September 23rd, that 8 million Iraqis currently live in poverty and that the government should reform the 2014 Health Care Law to cover more families in need.
Sudani, who is the member of the Committee for Monitoring the Government's Agenda, said that the legislation is one of the most important to have been passed by parliament because it has such a direct impact on society, but argued that it is only a starting point and should be used as a foundation for expansion.
However, first the government had to make an assessment of the scale of the problem that it was facing.
“Determining the poverty line in Iraq was done in cooperation with the ministries of education, health, and housing and reconstruction.”
“There are many types of poverty and it is unfortunate that Iraq has such a high rate, especially in the governorates liberated [from Islamic State],” he said.
Sudani's estimate was broadly in line with previous calculations by the UN and the Ministry of Planning.
Implementing and expanding the law to cover more families in poverty would help to alleviate their suffering, he argued.
“The law has not been entirely implemented by the government so far, which is important and necessary for it to do,” Sudani said.
“The government has made some steps in supporting the poor and [distributing] social benefits in accordance with Article 11 of the 2014 law, which has caused a decrease in poverty,” he said, adding that committee would implement a strategic plan to monitor who precisely benefits from the law and whether it is effective at alleviating poverty.
Approximately 1.3 million poor families receive benefits in Iraq's governorates, exuding in the Kurdistan Region, which has its own social benefit schemes. $145 per month is paid to each family if it is a male-headed household and $185 if it is a female-headed household to help pay for medical expenses.
However, millions more are not covered by the law.
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