The project with the theme of “earlier awareness, better care” will continue until January 5, 2024, ISNA reported.

Nowadays, health is one of the most essential human needs. Before the coronavirus pandemic, people may not have realized its importance, but this disease showed us how precious health is, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said at a ceremony to unveil the Campaign.

“Maybe everyone thinks that our job is treatment, but it is not true. Our main duty is to prevent diseases and promote health.”

For this reason, we started a project called “national health campaign” on November 11, which will continue till January 5, 2024.

Emphasizing the importance of improving health literacy, Einollahi said, “The level of literacy in the society has increased, and we expect this level to improve in the field of health as well. Also, we hope to manage having an electronic health file for every Iranian with their national identification code to record the history of illnesses in their family, their lifestyle, etc. so that their diseases and their reasons can be traced easily.”

He emphasized the campaign should include over 70 percent of the country’s population; there is full preparation for its implementation in all universities of medical sciences, and everyone is mobilized to implement the plan.

Einollahi added: “Currently, with the decrease of communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases have increased, so that they are responsible for 83 percent of deaths.

Every year, some 300,000 people die in the country due to non-communicable diseases, and more than 150,000 deaths are caused by cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, diabetes accounts for 30,000 deaths every year.”

Some 32 percent of people over 18 years of age in Iran have high blood pressure, he said, adding that many may not have even checked their blood pressure once.

The health minister emphasized, “We hope to be able to prevent half a million deaths due to cardiovascular disease and 30 thousand deaths due to diabetes till 2030 with timely awareness.”

More than 220,000 deaths, that is, about 89 percent of deaths per year, are caused by factors such as blood pressure, blood sugar, obesity, and overweight, he concluded.

Over the past 20 years, deaths caused by NCDs have risen by 14.5 percent. In 2016, 304,400 premature deaths were caused by NCDs in Iran, according to WHO.

Cardiovascular diseases have the highest share of 43 percent of the total deaths caused by NCDs.

Some 0.5 percent of premature deaths happen before the age of 70 and 2 percent before the age of 50.

In September 2022, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said that Iran has one of the strongest health systems in the region and that this opportunity should be used optimally in the field of health diplomacy.

Based on innovative indicators of health technology development in 2021, Iran was ranked 60th among 132 countries, which shows an improvement of 60 steps compared to 2014, Younes Panahi, the deputy health minister for research and technology, has announced.

In June 2021, Ahmed al-Mandhari, the World Health Organization director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, said the Islamic Republic of Iran is a role model for primary health care.

The national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1402, which starts on March 21, has increased the health sector’s budget by 29 percent compared to the current year’s budget.

The bill has proposed a budget of 2,730 trillion rials (about $6.8 billion) for the Ministry of Health, IRNA reported.

The administration has also proposed 690 trillion rials (about $1.7 billion) as subsidies to provide medicine by health industries.

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“The health attaché will strengthen the cooperation and implementation of health agreements between the two countries,” Einollahi said in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Salih Al-Hasnawi in Baghdad.

“Negotiations between the two countries have been finalized and soon we will send our health attaché to Baghdad to develop health and medical cooperation between the two countries,” IRNA quoted Einollahi as saying.

In July, the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding in Tehran, promoting health diplomacy by boosting relations in the field of medical education and treatment.

The Iraqi official called for importing Iranian technology and expertise in medicine.

“We started registering Iranian medicine in 2003. Thousands of Iraqi students are studying in Iran in various fields,” he added.

Einollahi, for his part, said that the fifth joint committee for economic cooperation was held two months ago, with the issue of health as one of the main topics of discussion.

“It was decided that the pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies of the two countries should cooperate more with each other.”

Health attachés

On July 16, Einollahi said, “We are planning to send health attachés to the countries where the number of visits by medical tourists to Iran is high.”

“We have negotiated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the appointment of health attachés in the embassies of some countries with whom we cooperate in the fields of medicine, medical equipment, science and technology, and exchange of professors and students.”

“Health attachés are appointed in six countries in the first phase, including South American and African countries. We are also following up on dispatching health attachés in neighboring countries,” IRNA quoted Einollahi as saying.

In this line, the first health attaché will be sent to Iraq, he noted.

“The issue of medical tourism is very important. Therefore, countries that have extensive relations with us in the field of health diplomacy will be given the top priority.”

President Ebrahim Raisi has said the Islamic Republic is a suitable destination for medical tourism.

Highlighting the country’s great strides in medical and health sciences, Raisi said patients in many neighboring countries prefer to visit Iran for treatment than travel to Europe.

This is due to the lower cost and high level of expertise in Iran, Raisi said, Press TV reported.

Health cooperation                 

In December 2022, Einollahi and Al-Hasnawi discussed the promotion of health, medical and educational cooperation.

The two officials addressed the ways of professor exchange and Iraqi students’ use of Iranian medical experiences.

Al-Hasnawi said that a special working group, consisting of Iranian and Iraqi specialists, to promote medical cooperation is planned to be formed, and Iran’s medical experiences will be used in the treatment of rare and incurable diseases.

Emphasizing the need to expand medical cooperation between the two countries, he proposed the use of Iranian medical equipment and supplies.

Einollahi also announced that the first international branch of Tehran University of Medical Sciences will open in Karbala.

A meeting was also held with the focus of holding training courses focused on the treatment of various diseases, including cancer, IRNA reported.

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Deputy Health Minister, Hossein Farshidi, announced that 4,000 health projects will also be implemented by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2024), IRNA reported.

Curbing the coronavirus, implementing the Family Physician program, controlling infectious and non-infectious diseases, and improving people’s health literacy are among the government’s achievements in the past two years, he highlighted.

Implemented projects      

In January, Amir Saki, an official with the ministry of health, said by the end of the past Iranian calendar year (March 20), some 2,000 health projects would be inaugurated across the country with the priority given to underprivileged and rural areas, ISNA reported.

Improving the infrastructure for providing healthcare services, especially in border areas was among the main goals of the projects, he added.

In the past 20 years, the health indicators of the rural population have grown significantly, Mostafa Rezaei, head of the primary healthcare network of the Ministry of Health, said in October last year.

“For nearly 20 years, we have been providing first-level services to 29 million people in the form of an insurance program for rural areas and cities with less than 20,000 people. These services include service packages for age groups plus services for vulnerable groups,” he explained.

“The good situation we have in rural areas compared to urban areas is people’s access to PHC (Primary health care) services. This means that health care and treatment are provided to all villagers and the rural family physician program has been implemented and pursued for almost 20 years.”

Primary health care is provided to rural residents by 31,000 health care providers (called Behvarz) nationwide.

Over six years (1984 to 1990), the PHC system was fully developed throughout the country. In rural areas, Health Houses are established in villages with over 300 residents, which are under the supervision of a rural comprehensive health center.

Each health center takes control of five Health Houses. Two healthcare providers provide primary care in each health house, including preventive care, health promotion, screening, and basic medical services for predefined conditions, to an approximate population of 1,100 people.

Currently, 18,000 health centers are providing services to over 20 million villagers nationwide, with 630 health care providers, Rezaei highlighted.

In 2005, Family Physician Program started aiming to strengthen preventive measures and protect people’s health with the participation of capable groups under the supervision of the country’s health and treatment network.

MT/MG

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Comprising nine sectors, the plan aims mainly to lower the cost of healthcare and reduce any inefficiencies in the healthcare system, IRNA quoted Mostafa Qanei, the secretary general of the Biotechnology Development Headquarters, as saying.

“In general, we considered nine practical areas under the title of digital health, which include fitness and nutrition, pregnant women and childbirth, online consultation, online appointments, and visits, electronic health records, smart hospital equipment and systems, health tourism, diagnosis, and health monitoring and care at home.”

Digital health refers to the use of information and communications technologies in medicine and other health professions to manage illnesses and health risks and to promote wellness.

It has a broad scope and includes the use of wearable devices, mobile health, telehealth, health information technology, and telemedicine.

Digital Health has been gaining momentum because it is envisioned to improve access to healthcare, reduce any inefficiencies in the healthcare system, improve the quality of care, lower the cost of healthcare, and provide more personalized healthcare for patients.

All the indicators of health and treatment have made significant progress after the Islamic Revolution, and now Iran is one of the leading countries in this field.

Electronic health records have been set up so far for 98 percent of people in the country. One of the key features of an EHR is that health information can be created and managed by authorized providers in a digital format capable of being shared with other providers across more than one healthcare organization.

Iran has one of the strongest health systems in the region and this opportunity should be used optimally in the field of health diplomacy, Health Minister Bahram Einoullahi has said.

In June 2021, Ahmed al-Mandhari, the World Health Organization director for Eastern Mediterranean Region, said the Islamic Republic of Iran is a role model for primary health care.

For the past four decades, its PHC network has aimed to ensure that people have timely access to affordable, accessible, and acceptable essential health services, he explained.

In October 2021, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iran Jaffar Hussain, said that Iran’s health system can be a model for other countries in the region, especially in the field of health and the use of valuable forces such as healthcare providers.

The national budget bill for the current Iranian calendar year 1402, which started on March 21, has increased the health sector’s budget by 29 percent compared to the past year’s budget.

The bill has proposed a budget of 2,730 trillion rials (about $5.5 billion) for the Ministry of Health, IRNA reported.

The administration has also proposed 690 trillion rials (about $1.4 billion) as subsidies to provide medicine by health industries.

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“We have negotiated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the appointment of health attachés in the embassies of some countries with whom we cooperate in the fields of medicine, medical equipment, science and technology, and exchange of professors and students,” Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said.

“Health attachés are appointed in six countries in the first phase, including South American and African countries. We are also following up on dispatching health attachés in neighboring countries,” IRNA quoted Einollahi as saying on Saturday.

In this line, the first health attaché will be sent to Iraq by the next two weeks, he noted.

“The issue of medical tourism is very important. Therefore, countries that have extensive relations with us in the field of health diplomacy will be given the top priority.”

President Ebrahim Raisi has said the Islamic Republic is a suitable destination for medical tourism.

Highlighting the country’s great strides in medical and health sciences, Raisi said patients in many neighboring countries prefer to visit Iran for treatment than travel to Europe.

This is due to the lower cost and high level of expertise in Iran, Raisi said, Press TV reported.

Iran’s medical tourism revenues reached $1 billion during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on Mach 20), Saeid Karimi, the deputy minister of health, has said.

The Islamic Republic hosted some 1.2 million medical tourists last year, Mehr quoted the official as saying Friday.

The travelers, who came from 164 different countries, spent around one billion dollars during their stays in the country, Karimi stated.

The deputy minister said 247 hospitals and medical centers have been granted special licenses for medical tourism.

Iran has been ranked 46th destination for medical tourism [within the 2020-2021 Medical Tourism Index], he added.

People from the neighboring countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Oman, Bahrain, Armenia, and Tajikistan, constitute the lion’s share of medical tourists arriving in Iran, Karimi said.

In addition to medical centers and hospitals, hotels, restaurants, transport systems, and other service institutions benefit from medical tourism, which is a currency-generating industry, the official explained.

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Health tourism is one of the important aspects of traditional medicine and there is very serious competition in the international arena to use this capacity, he added.

The Iranian traditional medicine as a valuable heritage of the country has a lot of potential in the field of tourism and international relations, he stressed.

“Traditional medicine is one of the subjects that is given serious attention at different levels in the countries of the world, because it is very important from the perspective of international organizations, such as the World Health Organization and UNESCO.”

Iran is one of the few countries with traditional medicine in the world, he said, adding that it is considered a very important potential for the country in various fields of education, economy, science, and tourism.

Iran ranks fourth worldwide in the production of science in the field of traditional medicine, and the remarkable achievement will improve in the coming years, Nafiseh Hosseini Yekta, the director of the health ministry’s Persian medicine office, has announced.

Over 17,000 books have so far been published about Persian traditional medicine, which has been recognized by the World Health Organization, she noted.

Iranian traditional medicine strongly focuses on prioritizing health maintenance and disease prevention over treatment.

It is one of the most ancient forms of traditional medicine. It is grounded in the concept of four senses of humor: phlegm (Balgham), blood (Dam), yellow bile (Safra’), and black bile (Sauda’). The concept of the four senses of humor is based on the teachings of Rhazes and Avicenna in an elaborate medical system.

So far, about 30,000 plant species have been identified in the world, with Iran’s share of about 8,000 species which is more than the whole of species found in Europe.

The per capita consumption of medicinal plants in Iran is about one kilogram of dried plants, in other words, 83,000 tons of medicinal plants worth 1.2 trillion rials (around $4 million) are consumed in the country, while in Europe this amount is 900 grams and in the United States is 2.5 kilograms.

The 6th National Festival and Exhibition of Medicinal Plants, Natural Products, and Iranian Traditional Medicine was held in Tehran on November 1 to 4, 2022.

The event introduced technological and scientific achievements of knowledge-based and creative companies in the field of medicinal plants.

It also created a reliable bridge between people who are active in the ecosystem of medicinal plants and traditional medicine.

It hosted knowledge-based companies, investors, research and technology funds, creative and innovation houses, banks, and venture capital funds in order to provide a path for development in the country.

More than 70 creative companies and a number of innovative houses presented their capabilities and products at the festival.

Iran hosted some 1.1 million medical tourists from different countries during the past Iranian calendar year 1401 which ended on March 20, an official with the Ministry of Health has said.

The number of international patients in hospitals is approximately one percent today, a trend that is increasing as it earns the country more money than any other source, Soleyman Heidari explained on Friday.

However, the capacity is expected to increase to 20 percent by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2025), he mentioned.

Moreover, the health tourism infrastructure in the country is developing, which leads to an increase more medical tourists, he added.

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