TEHRAN – The Head of the Iranian Health Insurance Organization, Mohammad-Mehdi Nasehi, and the Minister of Health and Social Protection of Tajikistan, Jamoliddin Abdullozoda, have agreed to promote cooperation between the two countries in the field of medical health insurance.

During a meeting held in Tajikistan, the two sides discussed the potential for expanding ties by launching joint investments in the health sector, ihio.gov.ir reported.

For his part, Nasehi announced the organization’s readiness to share experiences with Tajikistan to help strengthen its insurance system.

Health insurance services

In 2024, seven more anti-cancer drugs were added to the list of rare diseases fund, with health insurance covering 70 percent of the costs.

“Currently, with the inclusion of these seven drugs, a total of 90 anti-cancer drugs are covered by the rare and hard-to-treat diseases fund, and the health insurance is paying 70 to 95  percent of their costs,” IRIB quoted Mohammad-Esmaeil Kameli, an official with the health insurance organization, as saying.

The number of health centers that have concluded contracts with the Health Insurance Organization increased by seven percent in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) compared with the year before.

More than 53,000 centers have concluded contracts with health insurance organizations so far in the current year, IRNA quoted Keivan Tajbakhsh, an official with the Organization, as saying.

Health insurance contracts have been signed with government, non-government, private, and charity centers for services.

The centers include doctors’ offices, hospitals, pharmacies, rehabilitation centers, and all medical centers.

“We hope to witness an increase in the number of health centers that are parties to the contract with Health Insurance Organization as new forms of the contract, approved by the Supreme Council of Insurance, are announced,” Tajbakhsh said.

He stated that 13,931 pharmacies, 20,804 doctors’ offices, 2,049 clinics, 2,446 independent laboratories, and 4261 rehabilitation centers, both independent and affiliated with other organizations, have concluded contracts with the Health Insurance Organization.

With the support of the World Health Organization, the national cancer control program has been developed, which sets out the Ministry of Health’s roadmap up to the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2025-March 2026).

The purpose of the program is to reduce cancer prevalence and mortality while improving the quality of patients’ lives, which can serve as a model for other countries, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The program includes two important documents, namely, “development of national cancer care network” and “development of cancer human resources”, which resulted in the establishment of the early diagnostic centers.

Health Insurance Organization, together with the Ministry of Health, has provided important and significant services in different sectors.

Providing free insurance for low-income families, paying the medical expenses of infertile couples, providing services to the disabled, supporting patients with rare diseases, and providing services to foreign nationals are among the services provided so far.

MT/MG