TEHRAN – Finland, and Poland announced readiness to strengthen cooperation in the health sector with Iran.

Mohammad Hossein Nicknam, director of the International Affairs Department at the Ministry of Health met separately with Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to Tehran Kari Kahiluoto and Poland chargé d’affaires Wojciech Unolt, in a meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.

Kahiluoto has announced readiness to develop health diplomacy with Iran, highlighting that Iran has been successful in the field of health.

Iran is a rich and successful country in the field of health, and the development of cooperation should be completely bilateral and city-to-city, company-to-company, and university-to-university, he stated, IRNA reported.

Referring to Finland's good experiences in improving the health and insurance system, public health, referral system, new family laws, and anti-coronavirus experiences, Nicknam called for the exchange of experiences between the two countries in these areas and the cooperation of pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies.

In April, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said that developing international health relations with different countries and organizations is one of the government's strategies. Unolt also announced his country's readiness to cooperate with the Islamic Republic in the field of health.

One of the projects we are implementing in Iran is in the field of pediatric neurosurgery, which is called Isfahan Children.

Nicknam also stressed the readiness of the Ministry of Health to develop health cooperation, establish a joint cooperation committee and sign a memorandum of understanding in this regard.

Earlier in April, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said that developing international health relations with different countries and organizations is one of the government's strategies.

Fortunately, the young generation of Iran has reached great achievements by creating knowledge-based firms.

“Health affects all political, social and economic dimensions of societies,” he said, adding, therefore, we suggest to all foreign embassies to plan and act specifically for health by appointing a health deputy in their system.

Iran is ready to cooperate with other countries in holding international conferences in the field of health, he concluded.

Health development

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, the deputy health minister for research and technology, has announced.

A total of 1,670 knowledge-based firms are operating in the health sector, ISNA quoted Younes Panahi as saying.

He added that there are 13 science and technology parks and 95 technology growth centers in the field of health, while 343 technological products have so far been licensed, and 335 inventions in medical sciences have been patented.

The health technology development is evaluated by the Global Innovation Index with seven indicators, including institutional structure, human capital and research, infrastructure, market and business complexity, technological knowledge, and creativity, he explained.

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