TEHRAN – Iranian and Afghan officials have discussed ways to promote cooperation between the two countries in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment fields.

During a meeting held on Thursday, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, Mehdi Pirsalehi, and his Afghan counterpart, Mawlawi Hamdullah Zahid, drafted a memorandum of understanding (MOU), highlighting the need for the enhancement of technical and regulatory cooperation in the food, drug, and medical equipment sectors, ISNA reported.

The officials met on the sidelines of the Afghan Health Exhibition, held from December 2 to 4, in Kabul.

Attending the meeting, representatives of Iranian and Afghan companies also raised their issues regarding medical product registration, the timeline for issuing licenses, and the process of importing medicines and medical equipment.

Forty Iranian knowledge-based firms are participating in the Afghan Health Exhibition. Pirsalehi paid a visit to the Iranian pavilions in the exhibition to support them.

The three-day event provided a valuable platform for knowledge-based companies to showcase their latest products and achievements in the healthcare sector. They also sought to establish a permanent presence in Afghanistan’s market.

Self-sufficiency in medicine, medical equipment

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 has said.

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.

On January 13, the head of Iran’s Union of Medical Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters said that medical equipment worth around $20 million is exported to more than 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 active 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.

MT/MG