TEHRAN – Six Iranian companies are participating in the 22nd Health Asia International Exhibition and Conference, being held from October 23-25 in Karachi, Pakistan.

The Iran pavilion is showcasing the country’s achievements in the fields of infertility treatment, medical and therapeutic kits, laparoscopy, and the pharmaceutical industry, IRNA reported. 

Members of the Iranian delegation, led by Morad Nemati-Zargaran, Iran's commercial attaché in Pakistan, met with Muhammad Ubaidullah Malik, CEO of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, on the sidelines of the exhibition, and discussed ways to develop cooperation.

Health Asia International Exhibition and Conference is the biggest annual health and medical industry event in Pakistan. 

The exhibition features a wide range of medical equipment, surgical instruments, disposables, hospital supplies, dental instruments and equipment, pharmaceutical products, hospital furniture, diagnostic equipment, and laboratory supplies.

The issue of medicine and medical equipment production and self-sufficiency in these areas is one of the government’s priorities, Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarqandi said in March.

Medicine and medical equipment are two important areas related to people’s health, he said, adding: “We are trying to reach self-sufficiency for the supply of medicine and medical equipment,” IRNA reported.

In 2024, the head of Iran’s Union of Medical Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters stated that medical equipment worth approximately $20 million is exported to over 60 countries annually.

More than 70 percent of medical equipment and 100 percent of normal hospital beds are domestically made, IRNA quoted Abdolreza Yaqoubzadeh as saying.

Also, over 95 percent of specific ICU and CCU beds and more than 85 percent of operating room medical equipment, such as anesthesia machines and other equipment, are manufactured with cutting-edge technology in the country, he added.

Yaqoubzadeh went on to say that the country’s need for medical equipment production is three to four billion dollars per year, some one billion dollars of which is imported.

Some 600 medical equipment companies are operating in the country, producing around 99 percent of the medicine supplied to the domestic market. 

Medical equipment manufacturers in the country produce and supply over 10,000 types of medical equipment to domestic and foreign markets. Now, various pieces of laboratory equipment are manufactured at prices much lower than the same foreign products.

On May 12, 2024, Ahmad Moslemi, a health ministry official, said that with 50 percent of medical devices being domestically manufactured, Iran holds the first place in West Asia for producing medical equipment both in terms of quantity and diversity, so that Iranian-made medical devices worth around $50 million are exported to 40 countries annually.