A doctor has flown back to his war-torn country of birth to offer people improved medical care.

Doctor Laith Al-Rubaiy, a consultant gastroenterologist at St Mark’s Hospital, Harrow, has returned to his hometown of Basra in Iraq this week to administer to those in need after the conflict.

This will be doctor Al-Rubaiy’s fourth visit to areas of the country where available healthcare is very basic.

Harrow Times:

Doctor Laith Al-Rubaiy

He said: “I’m indebted to my home country and this is the least I can do. Iraq is still recovering from the conflict, but things are slowly improving.

“There is still a lot of damage to the infrastructure, with a shortage of clean drinking water, sporadic electricity and a lack of pharmaceutical drugs and equipment.

“On previous visits we were offering vaccinations and treating a lot of chest infections, diarrhoea and infectious diseases because of insanitary conditions.

“Basra used to be called the Venice of the Middle East because of its confluence of waterways but they are now polluted, which has added to the health problems.”

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His mobile clinic

Doctor Al-Rubaiy will be met by his brother, Ali Kadhim, who is also a doctor, and doctor Al-Rubaiy will run a mobile clinic from a converted van supported by UK-based charity, the AMAR Foundation.

His work in Iraq has included building on national projects including bowel cancer screenings, and blood borne viral hepatitis screenings. He hopes to use Skype to still advise patients when he returns to the UK.

“The Iraqis are a resilient people and really appreciated our efforts on previous visits. I am hopeful that the country has turned a corner and what we need now is peace and stability so that we can rebuild.”

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