22 January 2024, Baghdad, Iraq – WHO Iraq ended 2023 having boosted the crucial life-saving skills of medical and health staff in emergency units through the rollout of the Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course. This year-long initiative has strengthened the provision of emergency health care across Iraq.

In January 2023, WHO Iraq, working with the Ministry of Health – at the central and Kurdistan regional levels – organized a series of 17 BEC training workshops. These strategically planned trainings were held across Iraq throughout 2023, reaching 277 front-line medical and health workers from various health facilities. Of this total, 42 individuals completed 3 training of trainers workshops and are now registered master trainers.