Iraq's healthcare has fallen far

SAMARA, Iraq (Reuters) - Fifty years ago, a much richer Iraqi government spent lavishly on health funding. The state company responsible for drug imports, known by its Arabic acronym KIMADIA, enjoyed such a close relationship with the world's top drug manufacturers that it would fax orders directly and shipments would arrive before a formal contract was drawn up.

In sharp contrast to the company's heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, today's KIMADIA does not have nearly enough money to cover Iraq's pharmaceutical needs.