https://doi.org/10.4081/hls.2026.13974
Loss of confidence: exploring medical health professionals’ perceptions of the Kurdistan Healthcare System
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Published: 10 July 2026
Understanding the Medical Health Professionals’ (MPH) perspectives is valuable in increasing the efficiency of health centres of Iraqi Kurdistan. The aim of this research is to observe and analyse the MPH’s perspectives on key health system challenges in the Iraqi Kurdistan health system. A self-administered questionnaire was developed and distributed electronically and in person to recruit participants in Sulaimani. 170 anonymous responses were received and the data collected and analysed between the 13th of March and the 21st of June 2024 using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) program version 28.0. The results showed that, majority of MPH expressed a negative perspective on most of the services provided in Public Health Centres. Simultaneously, positive perspectives were also expressed on health indicators in public and private health centres and rated Iraqi Kurdistan and Iraq’s health systems. In conclusion, an overwhelming majority of MPH expressed a negative perspective on the recent health system in Kurdistan.
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Ethics Approval
CRediT authorship contribution
Saya Omar Abdulrahman and Goshan Mohammed Karadaghi conceptualized and designed the study. Goshan Mohammed Karadaghi supervised the entire research project, from building the project title to creating a road map for the methodology and data collection, and critically revised and proofread the manuscript for important intellectual content. Saya Omar Abdulrahman developed the research questionnaire, coordinated data collection in Sulaimani, performed the statistical analysis using SPSS, interpreted the data, and drafted the initial manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript for publication and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Data Availability Statement
All data generated or analysed in this study are included in this article.
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