Iraq (Ministry of Health)—U.S. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Collaboration To Address the Substance Abuse Problem in Iraq

R. Aqrawi¹, W. Mitchell², S. Sadik³. ¹Ministry of Health, Iraq; ²Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States; ³International Medical Corps, Iraq

Background: Since May 2004, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has been helping Iraq to re-establish its behavioral health service system and has worked to promote and strengthen scientific cooperation between the United States and the Iraq Ministry of Health in the field of substance abuse.

Methods: (1) SAMHSA sponsored two Mental Health Action Planning Conferences, one in 2005 in Amman, Jordan, and the other in 2006 in Cairo, Egypt. (2) Iraq went on to hold its third Mental Health Action Planning Conference in October 2008. At each of these action planning conferences, substance abuse was a key topic of discussion. (3) In 2008, Iraq and SAMHSA launched the Iraq–SAMHSA Initiative, in which multidisciplinary teams from Iraq visited SAMHSA and host sites around the United States to learn about various interventions in Iraq. One of the teams from Iraq visited INOVA Fairfax Hospital in Virginia to learn about inpatient and outpatient clients, and the conduct of individual and group therapy. (4) Six more teams from Iraq visited the United States in the fall of 2010, as part of the second cohort of the Iraq–SAMHSA Initiative, including one on substance abuse.

Results: (1) Iraq will have primary care providers trained to screen, provide brief interventions, and refer patients to substance abuse specialty services. (2) This initiative will provide a “bridge” between the United States and Iraq and support ongoing linkage between the Iraqi teams.

Conclusion: This collaboration is uniquely successful. It deserves a firm position within SAMHSA and Iraq.