Movimiento por la Paz

According to a survey by the International Medical Corps (IMC) and the John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, the high cost of medicines and healthcare is a serious problem for Iraqi refugees and asylum-seekers who live in Jordan.

According to the report, only 4% of respondents -Iraqi refugees beneficiaries of health care offered by NGOs in Amman, can afford medical treatment, and almost 50% admitted spending a quarter of their income on health bills.

Until last year, the Jordanian government had prevented Iraqi refugees from receiving medical treatment in public hospitals. However, the pressure from the international community led the government to allow the collective Iraqi getting access to health care in these centres. However, according to the study, patients have to mait several months to be examined by a specialist and costs remain high.

Especially concerning is the situation in the psychosocial area, where more than half of those interviewed claimed to require some kind of mental treatment, while only 5% of respondents get access to these kind of services.

Official statistics from the Jordanian government and UNHCR estimate that some 750,000 Iraqi refugees are established in Jordan. Most of them are not allowed to work, or to get access to education, health and housing.