IRBIL: Kuwait's Consul General in Irbil Dr Omar Al-Kandari (center) attends a ceremony to announce Kuwait's donation of medical supplies to Iraq's Kurdistan region. - KUNA

IRBIL: Kuwait's Consul General in Irbil Dr Omar Al-Kandari yesterday announced that his country offered more than 10 tons of medical supplies to Kurdistan region, north of Iraq, to help the region stem the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The assistance is part of the "Kuwait Is By Your Side" campaign, organized by Kuwait Society for Relief, Kandari said.

The campaign is keeping with the instructions of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, he noted, voicing hope that the Kuwaiti contributions would help the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) address the impacts of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, KRG Minister of Health Saman Hussein Muhammad thanked the State of Kuwait and its fund-raising agencies for their continuous support to the region. The medical assistance includes ventilators for coronavirus patients and anesthesia materials, which could play a crucial role in the combat against the pandemic, the minister said. The State of Kuwait maintains its long-standing humanitarian role in Kurdistan and offered a lot of assistance to the internally displaced people in the region, he noted.

In the meantime, Irbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw expressed gratitude to Kuwait for their assistance. In similar statements to the press, he highlighted the need of sustainable assistance for Kurdistan with a view to alleviating the suffering of the sick people. Launched in 2015, the "Kuwait Is By Your Side" campaign played a remarkable humanitarian role in supporting the health and educational sectors of Kurdistan and other parts of Iraq.

The Kuwait-based International Islamic Charity Organization set up 26 medical centers and mobile clinics supplied with the ambulances and essential equipment including artificial limbs. It has offered more than 600 tons of medical supplies to Kurdistan so far. - KUNA