TEHRAN – Iranian Ambassador to Armenia, Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri, discussed expanded cooperation in the healthcare sector in a meeting with Armenian Healthcare Minister, Anahit Avanesyan, in Yerevan on Friday.

Pointing to the importance of promoting mutual understanding between the two countries, especially the existing capabilities in the production of medicine and medical equipment, Zohouri highlighted expanding bilateral partnership in the field of health and treatment, ISNA reported.

 “The big potential of the Armenian-Iranian partnership in pharmaceutics is obvious. We constantly consider the opportunities to mutually engage the Iranian-made medicine into the Armenian market,” Avanesyan said.

Investment programs, development of healthcare tourism and regional cooperation in the health sector, educational programs, and exchange of experience were discussed during the meeting.

Medical exports

Iranian companies producing medical equipment export their products to 54 countries across the world, Es’haq Ameri, deputy health minister for medical equipment and supplies, said in November.

In the light of the coronavirus pandemic, the domestic knowledge-based companies were at the forefront of the fight by expanding production lines, making us highly independent, IRNA quoted Ameri as saying.

In 2018, the National Medical Device Directorate reported that the Iranian medical equipment market was worth $2.5 billion, 30 percent of which belonged to over 1,000 domestic firms.

On a global scale, 56 percent of 500,000 medical equipment items available in the world market have Iranian versions. In pharmaceuticals, around 70 percent of Iran’s $4.5 billion markets are domestic products and, in 2018, 97 percent of pharmaceuticals consumed in the country were manufactured locally.

FB/MG