The Health Reality in Iraq: Enough with Drugs

In a scientific and intellectual collaboration between Bayt Al-Hikma (House of Wisdom), the Shia Endowment Diwan, and the Ministry of Interior, the Center for Information and Decision-Making  Support (CIDS) held a scientific symposium today, Monday, November 24, 2025, titled: "The Health Reality in Iraq: Enough with Drugs." The event was attended by Dr. Qahtan Ni'ma Hassan Al-Khafaji, Head of the Board of Trustees, and a select group of professors and specialists from various institutions.

The session was chaired by Dr. Muwaffaq Mahdi Sabri, Head of the Research Department in the Research and Studies Directorate at the Shia Endowment Diwan, and rapportuerd  by Dr. Hanan Ali Hammoudi from the Center for Information and Decision - Making Support.

The symposium highlighted the severe health and social risks caused by drug addiction, the ways to confront and treat them, and the importance of integrating recovered individuals back into society. It emphasized the necessity of concerted institutional and civil efforts to limit the spread of this phenomenon.

A group of researchers from different scientific bodies presented papers at the symposium:

  Religious guide Mr. Raad Abdul Ali Kadhim from the Shia Endowment Diwan presented a paper covering the religious and media aspects and the significant role played by the Religious Guidance Unit in raising awareness among youth and adolescents. This aims to solidify their beliefs, educate them about the danger of addiction, and warn them against drugs. He called for the formation of joint teams and the coordination of efforts between institutions and families to protect youth from sliding into this phenomenon and to immunize society from this dangerous scourge.

Journalist Yousif Mahboob Fadheel  Director of the Media and Awareness Division at the Ministry of Interior, reviewed the Ministry's procedures to limit the spread of the drug phenomenon, along with several seizure operations carried out by the Ministry. He noted that the General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers awarded the first-place prize to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior—General Directorate for Drug and Psychotropic Substances Affairs—in the competition for the Best Operational, Informational, and Field Cooperation at the Arab and international levels, as part of the 39th Arab Conference of Heads of Drug Control Agencies in Arab Countries. 

The researcher also pointed out that the Museum of Narcotic Materials, the Forensic Laboratories, and the Library are open to researchers to benefit from them in their studies and research, which contributes to limiting the phenomenon of substance abuse and addiction.

 Dr. Ban Mahdi Karim, Head of the Mental Health Unit at  Baghdad Health Directorate—Karkh, participated with a research paper that addressed the level and danger of substance abuse in Iraq. She reviewed the steps for psychological rehabilitation to prevent relapse into addiction and the role of family education in this issue, in cooperation with educational institutions.

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