TEHRAN – The meeting of the Health Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization under the presidency will be held in Iran, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has announced.

Iran signed a Memorandum of Obligations to become a permanent member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at the 21st SCO Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

After permanent membership, the chairmanship of the SCO health committee has been entrusted to the country, and in the near future, a meeting of the members of this committee will be held in Iran with the presence of the health ministers of the Shanghai member countries, he said.

The knowledge-based companies active in the field of pharmaceutical production and medical equipment will hold an exhibition of their products on the sidelines of the upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Health Committee in Iran.

The SCO is an intergovernmental organization founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001. The SCO currently comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia), and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey).

 Health diplomacy

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

FB/MG