Iraq’s first artificial heart implant

DHI QAR, December 21 (964) — In a groundbreaking medical achievement for Iraq, the Ministry of Health announced the successful completion of the country’s first artificial heart implant. The patient, a 60-year-old man suffering from heart failure in Dhi Qar, received the life-saving operation at the Nasiriyah Heart Hospital.

Text of the statement of the Ministry of Health:

Based on the visit of the Prime Minister to Germany on February 16, 2023, which was followed by the visit of the Minister of Health, Saleh Mahdi Al-Hasnawi, during the month of April, and to strengthen the bonds of health cooperation and benefit from German expertise in the fields of health, a specialized German medical team from the University of Hannover arrived at the Nasiriyah Heart Hospital in the Governorate of Dhi Qar. They participated with Iraqi doctors in performing the first complex and rare operation (artificial heart implantation in Iraq) for a 60-year-old patient suffering from congestive heart failure that did not respond to treatments.
The operation was conducted this evening, Wednesday, and was crowned with success. The case is being followed up by a specialized team, and it is clear that all the required arrangements have been prepared in the hospital to perform the operation and the medical supplies required for it have been provided, as four artificial heart devices have been provided and the appropriate patients have been selected and prepared to undergo the operation, which is considered a permanent treatment for them.
The hospital provides a database for patients by establishing a clinic specializing in heart failure patients, which is the first clinic of its kind in Iraq and supervised by a distinguished medical, nursing and technical staff.
The Minister of Health, Saleh Mahdi Al-Hasnawi, extended his thanks and appreciation to the staff of the Nasiriyah Heart Hospital for this qualitative and historic achievement for the Iraqi government, the Ministry of Health, and the Dhi Qar Health Department, and it falls within the the ministerial program to improve the level of medical services provided in health institutions and develop the work of specialized centers.