TEHRAN — World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed on Tuesday Iran’s health system development, saying that Iran sets an example for other countries worldwide.

Ghebreyesus made the remarks over a meeting with Iranian Health Minister Hassan Qazizadeh-Hashemi on the sidelines of the sixty-fourth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean which is held from October 9–12 in Islamabad, Pakistan. 

“Iran is a role model for other countries worldwide,” Ghebreyesus said, adding other countries should benefit from Iran’s experience [in health sector], the Iranian health ministry’s official website reported. 

Iran has made a considerable improvement in pharmaceutical industry, he said, while endorsing Iran’s good manufacturing practices regarding pharmaceutical products. 

“We can benefit from Iran’s experience [in pharmaceutical industry] for other countries as not having regular access to essential and high quality medicines is one of WHO’s major problems,” he highlighted.

He further mentioned his future trip to Tehran expressing hope that the trip would pave the way for greater cooperation between WHO and Iran. 

He additionally commented on Iran’s “excellent” research programs on cancer treatment saying that Iran’s experience in this field can be put in good use. 

Finally, Ghebreyesus expressed his admiration for Iran’s Health Ministry measures in allocating budgets to provide citizens with appropriate healthcare coverage. 

The Iranian minister, for his part, called for WHO’s support to undertake some reforms in health sector. Moreover, he said that WHO can set up a regional office in Iran to exchange experience. 

‘Tehran, Islamabad can launch joint venture’

On the sidelines of the WHO meeting, Qazizadeh-Hashemi met with Saira Afzal Tarar, Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination of Pakistan. During the meeting, the Iranian official noted that Iran and Pakistan can start a joint venture regarding exports of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. 

“We can take advantage of both countries capabilities in health sector and such cooperation can be broaden and does not necessarily have to be limited to the two countries,” he said, stating “in addition the market in Iran and Pakistan we can produce and export our products to other countries as well.”

However, he said, implementing memorandums of understanding signed between Iran and Pakistan (in 2016) highly depends on private sector full and effective cooperation. 

Iran to export pharmaceuticals to Pakistan 

The Pakistani minister also expressed readiness for importing pharmaceuticals from Iran saying that the two countries along with Iraq should strive to expand ties in health sector.

Furthermore, he explained that a scientific delegation is slated to travel to Iran to negotiate the two countries mutual cooperation in the future. 

MQ/MG