July 19, 2019
Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi says Iran has fewer than two-thirds of the minimal number of doctors it needs to provide basic health care to more than 80 million Iranians. He blames the shortage on the brain drain of trained physicians.
Speaking to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Harirchi said, “For every 1,000 Iranians, there are only 1.6 general practitioners, dentists, and specialists, while the lowest number needed to meet the country’s needs is 2.5 physicians per 1,000 persons.”
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that a minimum of 2.5 physicians, nurses, and midwives per 1,000 people are needed to provide sufficient coverage with primary care.
On top of the physician shortage, Health Ministry officials have announced that more than 1,000 nurses leave Iran every year. Iranian hospitals are dealing with a shortage of nearly 100,000 nurses, according to the chairman of the Majlis Health Committee, Heydar-Ali Abedi.
Abedi last November said health care management experts recommend a nurse-to-bed ratio of 2.5, while Iran’s current ratio is closer to 1.7.
“There are only 89,000 nurses currently working in the country’s hospitals,” said the Reformist deputy from Esfahan.
Nurses leave the country to pursue better pay and working conditions in Australia, Europe, and North America, the vice president of the Iranian Nursing Organization, Mohammad Sharifi-Moqddam, said earlier this year.
“Most Iranian nurses emigrate to Australia, Canada, the UK, The Netherlands, and Switzerland,” Moqaddam said. Turkey and the Persian Gulf countries also draw many of Iran’s nurses with better pay and conditions.
Iranian nurses, who have repeatedly gone on strike to protest their working conditions, are particularly dissatisfied with the implementation of the governmental plan called “Health Development.”
The plan, the nurses argue, has led to a three-fold rise in physicians’ pay, but no significant increase in nurses’ pay.
While Iran is suffering from a shortage of doctors and nurses, Harirchi proudly declared on June 19 that 300,000 foreign tourists annually visit Iran for health care.
“The government has earned more than $1.2 billion in revenues from health tourism,” Harirchi boasted, adding, “Iran is striving to become a hub of health tourism and serve friendly and neighboring countries.”
But his statistics suggest that the more medical care provided to foreigners, the less will be available for Iranians. Iran is attractive to many foreigners because health care is very cheap in the country.
