Iraq: Amid Falling Oil Prices and ISIS Threat, Iraq Cuts Free Healthcare

Jan 26, 2016 | Elizabeth Whitman, International Business Times
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The robust healthcare system that Iraqis were once accustomed to has changed substantially in the past decade, but one of its most drastic upheavals has seen citizens this week being asked to pay for services that had been provided free of charge since 1970, the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported. The falling price of oil, which dipped below $27 a barrel last week, was one reason the policy was changed, as Iraq depends heavily upon exports of the commodity. Another factor was the costly fight against the Islamic State group, or ISIS, which controls portions of Iraq.