TEHRAN – Afghanistan has appreciated Iran for offering health and treatment services to Afghan refugees infected with coronavirus free of charge.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry in a statement on Saturday announced its gratitude and appreciation to Iran for its humanitarian efforts to address the issue of Afghan refugees in the country.

All measures, especially the recent decree by the Iranian president to provide free medical treatment to Afghan refugees in Iranian public hospitals, have assured the Afghan government, IRNA reported on Sunday.

According to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, providing transportation services to transit trucks and providing the necessary health assistance to vulnerable Afghan nationals are among the measures that are highly appreciated.

Given the outbreak of the coronavirus in the world and the neighboring country, the Afghan government wishes success to the Iranian government in countering the crisis and hopes that the world will recover from the epidemic soon, the statement reads.

Hassan Rouhani issued a decree that medical services for coronavirus patients should be free of charge in early April.

Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki in a letter to medical university chancellors across the country emphasized that patients who are not under insurance coverage or are underprivileged and also foreign nationals should not pay for the healthcare services and the costs will be compensated by the national health insurance system.

The total number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus in Iran has reached 71,686, of whom 4,474 have died and 43,894 recovered, Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Sunday.

FB/MG