TEHRAN – The Family Physician Program will be registered in international forums as an initiative of Iran, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said.

Based on the program, which started in the current calendar year ending on March 20, every Iranian will have an electronic health file, IRNA quoted Einollahi as saying.

“A healthcare provider regularly checks the health of the family members and in case of getting sick, they will be referred to a family physician,” he said.

This way, he went on to say, when a person is referred to medical centers, 95 percent of the costs will be covered by the ministry of health.

In fact, the Family Physician Program is an initiative of Iran, and the ministry will register its intellectual property in the name of the Islamic Republic in international forums.

The administration intends to transform the health system approach from treatment-oriented to prevention-oriented.

Stating that the Family Physician Program is currently being implemented in 195 cities, Einollahi added that the program is an important achievement that will be implemented nationwide next year.

“Every individual will have a health file through which non-communicable diseases will be controlled.”

With the implementation of the national health campaign that aimed at screening individuals for diabetes and high blood pressure, about 880,000 new cases of hypertension and 410,000 with diabetes were identified who are undergoing treatment now. Of course, national campaigns of healthy nutrition, cancer, and other diseases are on the agenda, he stated.

Referring to the domestic production of 99 percent of drugs, Einollahi announced the health ministry in cooperation with knowledge-based companies is planning to take needed actions to fully meet the pharmaceutical demands of the country.

Another important achievement in the field of health is holding the International Congress on Family Health with a focus on the significant role of mothers in the family’s well-being from March 5 to 6. The health ministries of 24 countries will attend the event, he mentioned.

Family Physician Program

Family Physician Program was started in 2005, which targeted almost 25,000,000 citizens residing in rural areas, and was piloted in two provinces of Fars and Mazandaran.

Periodic examinations and monitoring of people's health status, easy and round-the-clock access to basic services and primary care, and frequent visits to doctors are the characteristics of a family physician.

Based on the Family Physician Program, a physician and a midwife offer services in rural areas, every 3,300 villagers have a physician and there is a midwife per 5,200 people in villages.

The implementation of the Family Physician Program in urban areas began in June 2012 in Fars and Mazandaran provinces. Reducing out-of-pocket payments has been an important effect and benefit of the urban family physician program.

The Family Physician Program has made treatment referrals more concentrated and improved the interactions between doctors and healthcare providers.

On September 8, Einollahi described the Family Physician Program as the most important priority of the ministry for the next two years.

"This program is a basic measure which, in case of being properly formed, will solve many problems of the health system,” Einollahi said, IRNA reported.

In September 2023, Mohsen Barouni, an official with the Health Ministry said “The program has been implemented in 182 cities of the country covering more than 20 million Iranians,” IRNA reported.

A total of 20,263,501 persons have been covered by the Family Physician Program, which constitutes 40 percent of the target population in cities.

Over 4300 healthcare workers have been recruited for the implementation of the program. So far, Family Physician Program has been implemented in three phases; in the first phase 59 cities were included in the program; in the second phase, it raised to 93 cities and now a total of 182 cities are covered by the program.

Barouni went on to say that the Family Physician Program has not yet been carried out in 66 cities of the country, they will join the program in the next stages.

Women and family health

Health programs to promote mothers’ health are planned to increase in the next Iranian calendar year, starting on March 21, ISNA quoted Hossein Farshidi, an official with the Health Ministry, as saying.

The international congress on family health will be held as a part of the Health Ministry’s efforts to highlight the role of women in promoting family health and also to share and use the experiences of other countries in promoting family health, the official added.

Experts from the World Health Organization and some of the health ministers of regional countries are expected to take part in the event, Farshidi noted.

Addressing the meeting, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said the main objective is improving regional countries' health. Mother's health is the pillar of a family’s health, which leads to the expansion of health in a country. So, mothers have a central role in the family.

“Making up half of the country's population, mothers can play an essential role in the nutritional and mental health of families by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Women’s physical, mental, cultural, emotional, and spiritual well-being improves health care. Healthy women make a healthy family and subsequently a healthy society.”

MT/MG