TEHRAN - Fariba A Al-Darazi, the World Health Organization’s Adviser for Nursing and Midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean, has praised Iran for achieving progress in nursing over the past years.

She has traveled to Iran in order to provide expert opinions regarding the preparation of a comprehensive nursing care law.

During a meeting in Tehran on Sunday with the Iranian deputy health minister Abbas Ebadi, the WHO official considered the country's attention to a comprehensive nursing law as a way to improve nursing care very important.

She expressed her hope that due to the ongoing development projects in the country, the law will provide an opportunity to improve the quality of services to the people.

The Iranian official, for his part, said that during recent years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, new needs were raised, which required the implementation of some basic and fundamental changes in the field of nursing.

He also said that 12 nursing research centers are operating in the country, adding that the number of articles published by Iranian nurses indexed in international databases has given a special status to the country in the region.

Ahmed al-Mandhari, the World Health Organization director for Eastern Mediterranean Region, has sent a message to the 26th G5 High-Level Experts Meeting on Health Cooperation that was held in Tehran from May 6-10.

“I strongly believe that the Group of Five Cooperation Program will add value to the health programs and operations that countries in the region implement in order to achieve the development goals of the World Health Organization,” he said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how public health crises damage not only people's lives but also their livelihoods.

Regional and sub-regional collaborations and partnerships are vital to the stability and prosperity of the region and it is only through collective action that we can increase achievements in promoting and improving people's health and well-being.”

G5 countries (Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, plus the World Health Organization) took part in the meetings with the theme of “Joint Work for Solving Joint Health Problems.”

 In June 2021, al-Mandhari 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.

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said many countries in the region are asking Iran for help with issues related to health.

Emphasizing that all diseases are currently treated in the country, the minister added: “With the help of scientists, we were able to educate efficient human resources,” ISNA reported.

“With the efforts that have been made during the 44 years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, today we have the strongest health system in the region in such a way that the health indicators in the Islamic Republic are far ahead of other countries in the region.”

MG