Surgical pathology archive of urology in Iraq; where do we stand?

The international surgical centres recognised the progressive importance of archiving the written pathological data as well as the pathological materials such as paraffin blocks and slides using updated techniques to facilitate possible future retrieval of patients' pathological data and research plans. To highlight the difficulties and pitfalls of the current pathological archive of urology in Iraq and demonstrate the characteristics of urology archives in advanced urology centres represented by Torino University [Italy] and Johannes Gutenberg University - Mainz [Germany]. Recommendations are suggested to optimise our surgical pathology archive in general and urology archive in particular in the third millennium. Surgical pathology archive is an essential component of the daily surgical practice and research procedure. In Iraq clear legislation is needed to protect and regulate the surgical pathology archive including that of urology, as well as adequate economic funding to implement new international standards and techniques in this field