Iraq launches Dhamani, national digital health insurance system

Iraq just flipped a major switch in its healthcare system. Officials in Baghdad have rolled out the Dhamani digital health platform — an online engine built to bring health insurance and medical records into the digital age. It's not just a website. It's a foundational shift toward how Iraqis sign up for care, track their health history, and access services across the nation's public health facilities. The goal is simple yet seismic: replace clunky paper systems with something swift, smart, and connected.

How does it work?

Put plainly, Dhamani is a digital interface where registered citizens can:

• enroll or update their personal information online
• manage access to medical services
• carry their health history in a smart magnetic or biometric card

That card isn't just plastic. It holds a full electronic medical record — diagnoses, prescriptions, lab tests — all in one place. This means that whether you're in Baghdad or a far-flung province, your health data travels with you. The broader plan is to integrate these digital records into service delivery across public health centers, so doctors see the same information everywhere they go.

Officials plan a staggered rollout. First phase? One million people in Baghdad. Next? Two million more across nine other provinces, scaled by population size. Biological authentication and online tools are designed to keep things secure and smooth.

Why does it matter?

Iraq's health system has long relied on paper. That's slow. That's error-prone. That's opaque. Experts outside Iraq say this problem isn't unique. In countries with paper-bound health records, clinicians spend hours hunting for files — and patients have little control over their own information. Digital records help fix that and boost patient satisfaction, communication, and continuity of care.

For Iraq, the stakes are even higher. By digitizing insurance and medical records, Dhamani aims to:

• improve efficiency and transparency
• cut administrative delay and error
• unify care delivery across regions
• connect patient data forest and field

The head of the Iraqi Doctors Syndicate put it plainly, calling Dhamani "a milestone for the health sector." It's a rare tech leap in a system that until now has been held back by manual processes and fragmentation.

The context

This launch comes amid broader moves across the Middle East toward digital health systems and universal coverage. Analog efforts linger in Iraq, and experts say the absence of electronic records is a genuine barrier to quality care. That's not just about convenience. It's about speed, accuracy, and equity across provinces and populations.

Dhamani itself isn't new globally. In Oman, the Dhamani system has long served as a digital health insurance exchange, connecting insurers, hospitals, and regulators while managing claims and records. The idea there has been to bring everyone's data together into one platform, cutting waste and fraud while improving access to care.

In Iraq, the platform marks the first phase of a planned transition to widespread digitalization of healthcare under the country's Health Insurance Law. It's a big deal for a nation rebuilding its public systems. It's also a statement: Iraq is ready to harness data and technology to build a more modern, transparent, and patient-centered health system.