The College of Healthcare Technologies at the American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) organized a seminar under the title, “Public Health Roundtable: Education Initiatives at AUIB,” where government officials at the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environment, officials at the World Health Organization, senior faculty at healthcare colleges at Iraqi universities, senior AUIB faculty members, and various interested parties discussed the needs of Iraq in public health education.
AUIB’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Zouhair Atieh, welcomed the guests and briefed them on the university’s overarching strategy of quality assurance in the educational programs it offers and continually develops, beginning with adherence to the standards of accrediting agencies and working towards full programmatic and institutional accreditation, and also the development of international exchange programs and study abroad programs, in partnership with prominent world-class universities.
“We want our (graduates) to be internationally competitive, not just to be able to work abroad,” said the Dean of AUIB’s College of Healthcare Technologies, Dr. Allal Ouhtit, calling for “a multidisciplinary approach to healthcare education, research, and practice.”
Deputy Minister for Technical Affairs at the Ministry of Environment, Dr. Jassim Al-Falahi, spoke on “the relationship between environmental health and public health,” recounting the “environmental challenges” facing Iraq, foremost of which is “the aging and degraded infrastructure,” such as oil refineries, sewage systems, power plants, and brick factories, resulting in the increased pollution of air, as well as surface water and groundwater, and thus the proliferation of numerous diseases. In the same context, Dr. Al-Falahi pointed out the great number of cars operating across the country, significantly increasing toxic emissions. This, naturally, poses the question of the availability and quality of public transportation. As for respiratory and other diseases arising from the increase of both the frequency and severity of sand storms, as well as the great increase in temperatures, “the real reason is the decrease in the water revenue” of Iraq, as a result of the water projects of countries of origin, according to the same government official.