In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization conducted the first WHO Quality Rights initiative training for 8 Ministry of Health officials at Ibn Rushd psychiatric hospital in Baghdad.

The training was conducted to strengthen the quality of mental health services and human rights conditions in health facilities providing mental health services, present recommendations for full national implementation of the WHO QualityRights initiative and familiarize Ministry of Health staff with the tools related to the initiative.

"We expect participants to use these tools at the health facility level and generate and share reports of the outcomes with the Ministry of Health and WHO," said Dr Bruni Andrea, WHO Technical Officer for Mental Health in Iraq. "The Quality Rights initiative offers a fundamental approach to mental health care which is rights-based and recovery-oriented," added Dr Bruni.