TEHRAN – World Health Organization Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said Iran's commitment to ensure highest health standards for all segments of the population is commendable, ISNA reported.

Adhanom Ghebreyesus admired Iran's efforts on providing access to comprehensive healthcare services for all the residents, saying that offering healthcare services to all is a global commitment, and other countries must look to Iran as a role model in terms of public health coverage and primary healthcare.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Health Minister, Saeed Namaki, prior to the 66th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean in Tehran on Sunday.

Providing universal healthcare has recently been emphasized at the United Nations, and a resolution was recently adopted at the UN General Assembly, he said.

Namaki, for his part, said, “We also hope that the event would help boost international cooperation and infrastructure development of the health sector among member states.”

The 3-day event kicked off in Tehran on October 14, with health ministers and high-level representatives of the 22 countries and territories of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, partner organizations and civil society in attendance.

Key technical health issues discussed during the event including ending preventable newborn, child and adolescent deaths, strengthening nursing and midwifery as well as hospital sector, developing national institutional capacity for health policy-making and accelerating the regional implementation of the UN Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases.

FB/MG