2025-10-05T22:45:58+00:00
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Shafaq News
In a country weighed down by decades of wars, conflicts, and
mass displacement, millions of Iraqis live with deep psychological scars.
Within this reality, a pressing question arises: how does Iraqi legislation
protect citizens’ mental health and provide the care they need?
Law on Paper
The Iraqi Mental Health Law No. 1 of 2005 was designed to
answer that question. It provides the legal framework for safeguarding
psychiatric patients and regulating the work of mental health institutions.
The legislation defines psychiatric patients and outlines
their basic rights, including humane treatment, respect for privacy, and
involvement in medical decision-making. It also introduces rehabilitation
programs aimed at helping patients reintegrate into society.
Involuntary hospitalization is tightly regulated. Admission
without consent requires either a judicial decision or a request from
relatives, backed by a medical report confirming the patient poses a danger to
themselves or others. To ensure protection, a legal representative must be
appointed to safeguard the patient’s rights.
Cracks in Care
Despite the law’s importance, implementation has remained
limited due to insufficient human resources and infrastructure, compounded by
the psychological consequences of long-term conflicts.
According to Majid Shankali, chairman of the parliamentary
Health and Environment Committee, Iraq has no more than 200 psychiatrists, far
below the roughly 4,500 needed to adequately serve a population of 45 million.
This equates to one psychiatrist per 10,000 people, compared with an actual
density of just 0.34 per 100,000, highlighting a significant gap between demand
and availability.
Specialized facilities are also scarce. Iraq has six
psychiatric hospitals—two in Baghdad and four in the Kurdistan Region—with a
total bed capacity of 5.4 per 100,000 people. Nearly all beds, 97%, are
concentrated in major cities, leaving residents of other provinces with very
limited access to treatment.
Hospital records indicate 3,220 patients are currently
admitted, corresponding to 12 per 100,000 population, with an average stay of
338 days. This heavy reliance on institutional care underscores the limited
reach of community-based rehabilitation programs.
Financial resources pose another challenge. The Ministry of
Health has not allocated a dedicated budget for psychiatric services; instead,
it folds mental health funding into the general health budget. The annual
operating cost of a single psychiatric hospital is estimated at $1.08 million,
insufficient to cover essential medications, equipment, and infrastructure
expansion.
Although government hospitals provide medications free of
charge, frequent shortages force some patients to turn to the private market,
adding financial strain on low-income families.
Primary health care centers, meant to serve as the frontline
of mental health care, offer only limited services. Fewer than 20% of clinics
follow psychiatric treatment protocols, only 7% of doctors have received basic
mental health training, and just 1% of nurses have relevant training.
Moreover, restrictions on prescribing psychiatric medication
further limit the capacity of primary centers, particularly in remote areas.
The upcoming revision of the law is expected to strengthen the role of primary
care centers in delivering mental health services, seen as a crucial step
toward expanding coverage nationwide.
Read more: A nation in trauma: Iraq’s mental health crisis deepens
A Law Awaiting Passage
The Health and Environment Committee is currently preparing
an updated version of the law, which has been repeatedly placed on the
parliamentary agenda but has not yet been voted on due to an incomplete quorum.
The proposed amendments aim to close the gaps in the 2005
law by strengthening patient rights and protections and integrating mental
health services into primary care centers. They also seek to expand psychiatric
clinics across all provinces, improve the regulation of psychiatry and mental
health facilities, and enhance oversight of involuntary admissions.
Obstacles Ahead
If enacted, the updated Iraqi Mental Health Law is expected
to provide a more comprehensive framework for psychiatric care by expanding
personnel and facilities and improving access to services. Yet its
implementation faces significant obstacles.
Parliament has struggled to maintain quorum during debates,
slowing the legislative process. Even if passed, success will depend on
sustained funding, training programs to expand Iraq’s psychiatric workforce,
and campaigns to reduce stigma around mental illness that deters many from
seeking treatment.
Without these steps, the law risks remaining a framework on
paper, unable to deliver the protection and care millions of Iraqis urgently
need.
Read more: Iraq’s psychological wounds: A generation scarred by conflict
Written and edited by Shafaq News staff.
