The Iraqi Medical Association was founded in 1991, following the end of the Second Gulf War and the near-total destruction of infrastructure in our beloved Iraq. This exacerbated the suffering of our people at home.

The association's primary goal, among other objectives, was to unite Iraqi doctors in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where there was a dire need for scientific and social communication, and to provide assistance to new doctors in securing jobs in British hospitals. We also extended a helping hand to our people inside the country and attempted to break the unjust blockade by all possible means.

The Iraqi Medical Association was headed for the first year by Dr. Hisham Hassan, followed by the following doctors, who won the democratic and transparent elections: Dr. Maher Al-Hilali, Dr. Ferial Ahmed, Dr. Ismail Al-Jalili, Dr. Khaled Al-Shafi, Dr. Walid Al-Wali, Dr. MOHAMAD AL-Sadi, Dr. Nabil Al-Hamami, Dr. Alaa Al-Husseini, Dr. Ahmed Al-Jawad, Dr. Basil Al-Shihabi, Dr. Bahaa Al-Wakil, and Dr. Riad Abid. The Association succeeded in attracting a large number of Iraqi doctors in Britain from all specialties, with the number of registered members exceeding 700. The quarterly meetings were held at Ealing Hospital in London, with distinguished attendance. We were honored to invite professors from the College of Medicine in Baghdad to deliver various lectures at these meetings. The late Dr. Farhan Baqir, Dr. Zuhair Al-Bahrani, Ihsan Al-Bahrani, Khaled Naji, Abdul Amir Alawi, Salem Al-Damluji, Abdul Majeed Al-Alusi, Hussein Al-Talib, Alaa Al-Din Al-Khalidi, Sanha, and Laman Amin Zaki attended.

The efforts of the association's members were also crowned with fruitful success in holding the annual meetings, which were attended by a large number of members and others, along with their families. Two distinguished days of scientific lectures and cultural lectures were also held, including lectures on fine arts, music, and literature. It is worth noting that one of the artistic evenings was hosted by the singer Hussein Nimah. In 1999, the association participated in the Iraqi community conference held in Hammersmith, London, during which medical advice was provided to members of the community in various specialties, which was well received by the attendees. The association's activities were not limited to meetings; it also took the initiative to organize a family river trip for members on the tames river.

The association published a quarterly newsletter in Arabic, covering member news and activities, as well as interviews with professors at the Baghdad College of Medicine and general cultural topics.

Over the last few years we had some fascinating local Iraqi members like Dr Manal Nasih and Dr Tahsin Mizhar who have contributed a lot to the activity of our society. Dr Manal was helping in organising our joint international webinars. Many of them involved consultations with specialists at UK for a group of local Iraqi patients who were having multiple complicated issues. We greatly appreciate all this voluntary work by her which have resulted in solving many complex medical issues.