TEHRAN – Ten Iranian knowledge-based companies are presenting their latest healthcare products and achievements in Arab Health 2024 exhibition.

Supported by the Innovation and Prosperity Fund, the companies are attending the three-day event started on January 29, ISNA reported.

Physical therapy equipment, electronic surgical devices, therapeutic tools for musculoskeletal disorders, artificial intelligence software, liquid oxygen reservoirs, advanced dressings, pregnancy equipment, allograft transplantation, granules, and biological products are the fields of activity of the Iranian companies.

Arab Health

Established 48 years ago, Arab Health provides a platform for the world’s leading manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors to meet the medical and scientific community in the Middle East and subcontinent.

The 49th edition of the Arab Health Exhibition is hosted by Dubai. It is held at the Dubai World Trade Centre and will wrap up today, ISNA reported.

Arab Health Dubai is the largest Middle Eastern healthcare exhibition and congress, and the second-largest medical expo in the world.

More than 3,000 exhibitors from across the world are showcasing an exceeding range of healthcare products and services.

Over 60 countries import Iranian medical equipment

On January 13, the head of Iran’s Union of Medical Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters said 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.

Exporting to neighbors

On December 30, 2023, Vice President for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-based Economy, Rouhollah Dehqani-Firouzabadi, said the country is planning to export laboratory equipment to neighboring countries.

Knowledge-based companies started to meet the country’s technological needs in the past decade, he said, adding that the Vice Presidency supported the companies to manufacture laboratory equipment, Mehr News Agency reported.

Now, various pieces of laboratory equipment are manufactured at prices much lower than the same foreign products, Dehqani-Firouzabadi noted.

Foreign delegations that attend Iranian exhibitions will be familiarized with the country’s capabilities, he said, adding that the export of knowledge-based products was $300 million in the year to March 2021, but increased to $600 million the year after.

The export has surged to $1.5 billion so far in the current Iranian calendar year and is forecast to hit $2 billion by the end of the year, he said.

Rise in exports

Iran experienced a significant rise in exports of medicine and medical equipment in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year that started on March 21, 2023.

“Exports of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment grew by 300 percent in the first four months of the year,” IRNA quoted Heidar Mohammadi, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, as saying.

Around 99 percent of the medicine supplied to the domestic market is produced by Iranian companies, he highlighted.

Currently, the production of medicine, medical equipment, and powdered milk is supported by subsidies. So, their exports were very limited, but it is hoped that their exports will increase next year, he explained.

Referring to the shortage of 100 drug items in the country, he said: “Currently, nearly one and a half percent of the country's pharmaceutical need is imported. Along with domestic production, it is done as soon as the domestic production meets the demand.”

A total of 227 knowledge-based firms are supplying medical equipment for health centers across the country, according to the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology.

MT/MG