TEHRAN - The Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation has increased loans to job seekers by 300 percent in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21.

Over the seven-month period, 172,629 job opportunities were created, Mehr quoted Morteza Firoozabadi, an official with the Foundation, as saying.

The figure shows an increase of 83 percent year on year, he said, adding that some 301,000 job opportunities were created in the past year.

Supporting the elderly

The Foundation supports a total of 1.5 million financially-struggling elderly in the country, the deputy head of the Foundation has announced.

Out of the total elderly under the foundation’s coverage, 628,000 live in urban areas and 927,000 live in rural areas, while 297 are nomads, Hossein Khederveisi said.

Referring to 982,000 women and 574,000 men among the elderly under protection, he noted that one million people are between the ages of 60 and 74,439,000 people are aged 75 and 90 years old, and 45,000 people are above 90 years old.

Medical and health services, inpatient and paraclinical services, medicine and equipment, and insurance services are among the support provided by the Relief Foundation for the elderly, he said, adding, some 81,300 rare disease patients and 8,074 special diseases patients benefit from the services.

Currently, the elderly population is 9.2 million, which constitutes 7.10 percent of the country's population.

MG