Saudi Arabia provides Iraq with 10 tonnes of medical aid

A shipment of medical aid that weighs 10 tons was dispatched from Saudi Arabia to Iraq on Monday to prevent an outbreak of the cholera disease in the war-torn country, the Makkah newspaper reported.

The aid shipment, which has been provided by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, had been scheduled to reach Iraq seven months ago but the Iraqi government was late in carrying out required procedures.

Necessary procedures on the Iraqi health ministry’s part included specifying the number of beneficiaries and the areas where the aid would be distributed as well as the entity that would be in charge of receiving the shipment from the Saudi team accompanying it.

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As a result from the delay on the Iraqi side, Saudi Arabia had to ask the companies that provided the medical items and drugs to replace them with items that had a later expiry date in accordance with the period during which such drugs would be consumed, Makkah added.

The Saudi side stressed that it is important for the Iraqi government to identify the entity which would be in charge of receiving the Saudi shipment at the airport so as to avoid any possible complications.