TEHRAN – The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has sent 1,388 volunteer medical teams comprising 14,668 people to deprived areas in the past Iranian calendar year that ended on March 19.

Compared to 840 medical teams dispatched in the Iranian calendar year 1401 which ended in March 2023, the dispatched medical teams show a 65 percent rise.

“Volunteer physicians and specialists, paramedics, nurses, and midwives provided free treatment services to 219,618 individuals in underprivileged areas, IRCS official Vahid Salimi said on Tuesday.

Moreover, a total of 31,024 food packages were distributed among deprived families in the same period, he added.

Health promotion program

In December 2023, Hassan Farshidi, an official with the Health Ministry, said around 400,000 health volunteers are active in the country, acting as the link between the health system and different strata of society.

Once trained and empowered, health volunteers from communities, organizations, tribes, and foreign nationals play a central role in promoting health by people, ISNA quoted Farshidi as saying.

Health promotion programs aim to engage individuals and communities and promote a healthy lifestyle, prevention, and timely response.

IRCS dispatch volunteers

On the occasion of World Volunteer Day, December 5, volunteer physicians provided free health and pharmaceutical services to people in deprived areas.

The IRCS dispatches volunteer physicians to underprivileged areas nationwide with the goal of supporting vulnerable people and improving their health.

“Volunteer physicians will be sent to deprived areas from Ilam, Kermanshah, Yazd, Bushehr, Markazi, West Azarbaijan, and Kerman provinces to serve the people in these areas,” Salimi said.

They would provide free health and pharmaceutical services, including visiting patients, dental and midwifery services, and traditional medicine and acupuncture consultation.

They would also check people’s health, blood pressure, height, and weight.

Moreover, oral and dental health care would be taught to the students of the villages.

The main objective of dispatching volunteers is to improve the health of the villagers due to the unavailability of specialist doctors in these areas and reduce medical expenses.

Volunteers would try to improve the health of the people, provide relief, and help patients by improving the health literacy of society in various fields.

Rural development

Villagers and nomads play a vital role in the political, economic, and social developments of Iran.

Despite their low population, they have a great contribution to all-out national development.

Although oil, industry, and service sectors hold a significant share of the national economy, the rural and nomadic economy is considered an inexhaustible source for the nation, compared to exhaustible natural resources.

Living far from pollution and current problems of cities and being less dependent on oil resources, they play a critical role in sustainable development.

Villagers and nomads take the lead in providing food, food security, and healthy food production.

They have a major role in the tourism and handicraft industry and they are sources of many cultures and traditions in the country playing an important role in ensuring the country's security, especially in borders and remote areas.

MT/MG