12 October 2021, Tehran – The recently appointed Minister of Health and Medical Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr Bahram Eynollahi, met and greeted representatives of United Nations agencies in the country with health-related roles and mandates on Sunday 10 October at a formal gathering in his office in Tehran.

During the event, UN representatives briefly discussed their agency’s programmes and achievements and expressed enthusiasm in continuing to ramp up collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in the new administration.

Dr Eynollahi pointed to the meeting’s coincidence with the beginning of Islamic Republic of Iran’s 13th government administration as a fortunate sign and thanked the agencies for the unity and support they bring to the country. He also introduced a new initiative by the Ministry to hold similar bimonthly sessions between the Ministry and UN agencies in health-related issues to exchange experiences and lessons learned and discuss plans and way forward.

“A healthy human is someone who enjoys physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being, and the agencies present here today are a team with a shared goal: to improve the health of people in the country,” he said. 

Dr Eynollahi pointed to the country’s slower pace of vaccination a few months ago due to the fact that despite COVID-19, Islamic Republic of Iran faced problems in accessing medicines, equipment, and assistance due to ‘unfair and unilateral sanctions’. According to him, the Ministry plans to be able to vaccinate over 85% of the population this year, including vaccination of foreign nationals at no cost. 

 Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Dr Bahram Eynollahi speaks at introductory meeting

WHO Representative in Islamic Republic of Iran Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain also underscored the value UN agencies and the Iranian Mnistry of Health and Medical Education have to offer in collaboration. “We are one family working to see how we can support and offer our added value to the people of this country.”

Dr Mohammad Hossein Niknam, Director General of the Ministry’s International Affairs Department briefly reported on national vaccination coverage, by saying that until 9 October, 52% of eligible Iranians had received at least at least one dose, and 22% have received both doses. “The seven-day average of administered doses is 1.44%, which is currently higher than the global average and most countries in the Region,” Dr Niknam added.

UN representatives present in the meeting went on to present their respective agency’s priority areas of focus and upcoming frames of work in support of the government.

Dr Hussain, referred to Islamic Republic of Iran’s expressed political commitment to reviving the economy in the aftermath of COVID-19, and hailed the national health care system as providing one of the best primary health care systems in the Region and beyond. “In terms of universal health coverage, Islamic Republic of Iran is among the top countries in the Region with coverage above 70%,” he added, and underlined the comparative advantage partnership in Islamic Republic of Iran with other UN agencies bring to providing support in the country, particularly under WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work, which defines WHO's strategy for a five-year period 2019-2023.

 Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Dr Hussain ended his remarks by crediting the health ministry for making efforts to produce local vaccines and working with WHO to package the data for certification, improved diagnostic procedures, and reduced numbers in COVID-19 deaths and cases, tobacco control measures, efforts to keep the population healthy with project such as the Healthy City Programme, and using a recent loan from the World Bank for swift and timely procurement and delivery of life-saving medical and essential diagnostic equipment across the country.

UN Resident Coordinator Mr Stefan Priesner referred to the United Nation’s Secretary General’s commitment at the beginning of the pandemic to mitigate the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19 and its impact on health and socioeconomic areas and said he was impressed with the many activities that have been going on with Government, especially in terms of the COVID-19 response.

“The UN has continued to encourage vaccine donations to the country, and keeps encouraging donations including for the refugee Afghan population.” The UN system has supported Islamic Republic of Iran with 25 million worth of vaccine doses, 10 million of which has arrived so far, as well as with technical support and provision of life-saving equipment for COVID-19 and other diseases.

 UN Resident Coordinator Mr Stefan Priesner reiterates the United Nation’s Secretary General’s commitment to mitigate the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19

“Now with COVID-19 declining, we need to think about building back better, with UN capacity to support the country in that, taking an all-nations approach for health outcomes to provide the best possible support to the people of Islamic Republic of Iran,” he concluded.

UNICEF Representative Dr Robin Nandy also noted his agency’s concern to ease the impact of COVID-19 and unilateral sanctions on the health system, support the Afghan refugee crisis while looking at the issue with an all-risks approach in a country prone to natural disasters and their impact.

“UNICEF especially focuses on maternal, neonatal, and child health, and is looking at how COVID-19 has impacted the primary health care system and how we need to tailor our support to the Ministry, with a focus on prevention of mother-to-child HIV, nutrition and malnutrition, stunting, overweight and obesity, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene which is a topical issue because of COVID-19 and continues to be a major area of work particularly when it comes to refugees in Islamic Republic of Iran,” Dr Nandy said.

UNICEF Representative Dr Robin Nandy presents agency’s plans and achievements

UNFPA Representative Dr Sathya Doraiswamy referred to the implementation of the agency’s 6th programme focused on two areas of population and development, and sexual and reproductive health. “Islamic Republic of Iran has done significantly well and is a font-runner in reducing maternal mortality, so we are now working to remove the disparities in the rates of different regions,” he noted.

UNODC Representative Mr Kaveh Moradi reminded of his agency’s commitment to promote health and the healthy individual overarching several areas where the agency has supported the government including provision of technical assistance to different government organizations, and localizing successful global initiatives for Islamic Republic of Iran working with local community service organizations and NGOs that help those most vulnerable.

UNHCR Representative Mr Ivo Freijsen underscored Islamic Republic of Iran’s generosity to host Afghan refugees for four decades, and cited economic downturn before and after COVID-19 and its impact on the local community as well as refugees as areas to be addressed.

“Islamic Republic of Iran has started to find it more difficult to meet the increasing needs of people in general but also for refugees, especially now with more refugees arriving at the border, but we continue to support and work with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and Interior Ministry’s Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs, particularly on the Humanitarian Buffer [a mechanism established within the COVAX Facility to act as a measure of ‘last resort’ to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines for high-risk and vulnerable populations in humanitarian settings],” Mr Freijsen noted.

UNAIDS Representative Dr Fardad Daroudi took the lead to brief the session on his agency’s activities in Iran to achieve zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths, working with 11 other UN agencies in that direction.

UNDP Representative Mr Claudio Providas referred to health as a main pillar for the agency’s country programme as part of the Pro-Health team in Islamic Republic of Iran. “The focus with regard to COVID-19 response has been to attract resources and to be complementary to Ministry’s efforts, while working with the Global Fund to try and focus on partnerships toward risk awareness and communication, with UN partners, as well as procuring laboratory equipment and testing,” Mr Providas said. “We also continue to work with the health ministry and the municipalities in areas of fund raising, managing pollution, plastic waste, dust storms and future emergencies.”

IOM Representative Ms Mahnaz Mahmoudi referred to her agency’s regional plan to mitigate the recently heightened refugee crisis in Afghanistan, and Islamic Republic ofIran being an important part of that programme. She reiterated IOM’s commitment to support the Islamic Republic of Iran in addressing the situation of Afghan refugees and explore avenues of cooperation in different areas including health, awareness-raising, logistics, and future influxes in line with the Iranian Government’s plans and agenda.

Dr Eynollahi concluded the meeting by listing his ministry’s most important priorities as strengthening the health care system, implementing the family physicians programme nationwide, strengthening primary healthcare through the ‘Each Home as a Health Post’ initiative, improving data registration system, accessing UHC, reviewing insurance and reimbursement procedures, prevention and controlling communicable and noncommunicable diseases, prevention and cessation of tobacco use, and improving macro policies for older persons and for schools.

“COVID-19 was a challenge to all countries and helped identify the weak points in health systems, but in partnerships we can learn from each other and advance,” he said.

Related link

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