TEHRAN – The first exhibition in West Asia on nursing equipment and care services for patients, elderly, and children, named Nursing Carex, is scheduled to be held in Tehran from November 5 to 8.

The exhibition will serve as a platform to feature nurses’ key role in society, and provide an opportunity for sharing expertise in nursing services with regional countries; the companies will also have the chance to display their capabilities and latest achievements in the field, IRNA reported.

“International Nurses Day (IND) celebrated on May 12 highlighted the economic power of care which creates healthy people and societies and drives healthy economies under the theme: Our Nurses. Our Future. The economic power of care,” IRNA quoted Ahmad Nejatian, an official with the Iranian Nursing Organization, as saying.

Holding this exhibition also highlights the importance of the economic role of nurses' services and the equipment that nurses use to provide services to people, while the most important achievement of the exhibition will be showcasing the role of nurses, he stressed.

The main approach of the scientific exhibition is that nurses are the primary users of medical tools, the official added.

As the existing diseases progress, home care services will also grow to play an important role in patient care. It will soon compete with hospitals in terms of the volume of patients and the services provided.  

“During the Covid-19 outbreak, the role of nurses in society became very prominent and people recognized that, too.

Nurses are on the front line of health services and are exposed to the greatest threats, but new perspectives such as home care services and  in-home care, especially with the aging population, have created new markets for providing nursing services that will shape the future of the healthcare sector.”

Holding the exhibition will certainly contribute to improving the status of nurses and enhancing nursing services in Iran, Nejatian highlighted.

On the sidelines of the exhibition, several seminars and scientific events will be held which will definitely be useful for nurses and update their information.

90% of hospital equipment is domestically made

Some 90 percent of medical equipment used in hospitals is domestically manufactured.

However, three devices with complicated technology are imported, ISNA reported.

On May 12, Ahmad Moslemi, a health ministry official, said with 50 percent of medical devices being domestically manufactured, Iran holds the first place in West Asia for producing medical equipment both in terms of quantity and diversity, Iranian-made medical devices worth around $50 million are exported to 40 countries annually, IRNA quoted  Moslemi as saying.

Over the past five years, the number of manufacturing companies has increased fivefold with some 2,000 companies operating now, he noted.

Moreover,  the official said, the number of products has increased fourfold. Equipment such as implants as well as advanced medical devices are manufactured in the country as well.

In addition, the country's medical centers have been equipped with some 15,000 new hospital beds have been added to with 90 percent of the equipment produced locally, Moslemi added.

Rise in medical exports

More than 70 percent of medical equipment and 100 percent of normal hospital beds are domestically made, Abdolreza Yaqoubzadeh, the head of Iran’s Union of Medical Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters, said in January.

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, IRNA quoted Yaqoubzadeh as saying.

He 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.
Iran experienced a significant rise in exports of medicine and medical equipment in the first four months of the past Iranian calendar year that ended on March 19.

“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. 

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.

MT/MG