U.S.-backed program trains Iraqi women to be nursing aids

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Jun 30 2009

Fox News examines a U.S.-supported program in Iraq that is equipping women with the skills they need to become nursing aids.

Formed by Ayad al-Hadithy, an Iraqi physician "who spent his career trying to lower rates of maternal mortality in Anbar province," the "Pink Program" in the village of Saqlawiyah currently trains women in "basic first aid and prenatal care for expectant mothers," Fox News writes. Each participant in the program receives a salary of about $200 per month, paid for by the U.S. State Department.

In addition to building the country's nursing workforce, the program offers the Iraqi women "a chance to serve their community and fulfill their own ambitions," including their first chance at a career (Wilkes, Fox News, 6/27).

This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.