TEHRAN - Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said about 240 hospitals in the country are ready to accept medical tourists.

Last year (March 2022-March 2023), around 1,200 medical tourists received health services in Iran, he said, adding that people from neighboring countries used to travel to Iran for health services, IRIB reported.

“Gradually, as familiarity with Iran's level of progress in the field of health services increased, the number of medical tourists increased because they trusted the Iranian medical science,” Einollahi highlighted.

So far, some 240 hospitals have received International Patients Department (IPD) permits, he added.

“We are planning to send health attachés to the countries where the number of visits by medical tourists to Iran is high.”

On July 16, Einollahi said, “We have negotiated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the appointment of health attachés in the embassies of some countries with whom we cooperate in the fields of medicine, medical equipment, science and technology, and exchange of professors and students.”

“Health attachés are appointed in six countries in the first phase, including South American and African countries. We are also following up on dispatching health attachés in neighboring countries,” IRNA quoted Einollahi as saying on Saturday.

In this line, the first health attaché will be sent to Iraq by the next two weeks, he noted.

“The issue of medical tourism is very important. Therefore, countries that have extensive relations with us in the field of health diplomacy will be given the top priority.”

President Ebrahim Raisi has said the Islamic Republic is a suitable destination for medical tourism.

Highlighting the country’s great strides in medical and health sciences, Raisi said patients in many neighboring countries prefer to visit Iran for treatment than travel to Europe.

This is due to the lower cost and high level of expertise in Iran, Raisi said, Press TV reported.

MG