The first public hospital in Iraq was established in Baghdad during the reign of the governor "Medhat Pasha". Philanthropists of the city sponsored it after the governor appealed to them to do so due to the lack of funds in the state treasury, as the hospital was opened for business in 1872 AD and was named "Al-Ghuraba'a."
In 1875 AD, specifically in the Al-Najaf district, a local medical department or as it was called in Ottoman language, "Najaf Mua'inah" has been opened for people of the district. It was liaised to the district municipality department, and a deputy director back in 1877, who was then "Ahmed Agha", ran it.
In Karbala district, a hospital was opened in 1907 AD with a capacity of 30 beds, it was called then "Al-Hamidi" hospital after Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
A visitor to the holy city of Karbala in 1911 indicated that there was a military hospital in the city. As for pharmacies, there was one pharmacy in the Karbala district in 1911 AD, while many of the people of the city preferred to rely on herbs and recipes delivered by local physicians named "Attarin."
As for the Najaf district, the Baghdad State Board of Directors submitted a letter to the Ottoman Ministry of Interior on March 12, 1904 AD regarding approval to build a hospital in the holy city of Najaf. After lengthy discussions between the Ottoman officials, the approval was finally issued by the Ottoman Sultan, Abdul Hamid II in January 1906 AD.
The implementation of the construction of the Najaf District hospital was delayed until 1915, and when the issue was presented again in the Baghdad State Board of Directors, the Council approved in its sixteenth meeting to build a hospital in the district, as (150) thousand pounds were allocated from the state budget for the purpose of building it. The hospital capacity was limited to (22) beds only.
Source:
Mawsueat Karbala Al-Hadharia "Karbala Civilizational Encyclopedia".
A publication of Karbala Center for Studies and Research
Department of Modern and Contemporary History, Ottoman Documents.
[Vol. 7, Pg. 293-295].
