The executive director of the Social Security Insurance Organization (SSIO) , Mr Davoud Madadi, annouced that while we have issued 28 million health insurance plans, 40 million people used SSIO insurance plans in the last year (1384=2004,5). Mr. Madadi believes that electronic medical record is an effective measure to prevent from the illegal utlization of health insurances. Evaluations show that 86% of patients only need a medical/health consultation at the time of visit and over-administration of medicines by physicians just to satisfy patitients is a problem of our medical society he said.
Source: www.baztab.ir, Aug 31,2006
Code:22N
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Health in the news: It's not true to say the poor pay 10 times more than the better-off for health!
Mr. Shahriari, a member of the Health Commission of the Parliament says that claiming that the poor pay 10 times more than the better-off for health has not been proved by any evidence. He added that those with lower income usually utilize public health services and cannot afford private health facilities. According to the law uninsured people receive a compulsory health insurance plan at the point of hospitalization and are able to use their policy right after the first encounter Shahriari reiterated. Some doctors/centers even waive the co- payments for poor patients he continued.
Source: www. aftabyazd.com, Jan 7, 2007 ; No: 1980
My Comment: I agree with Mr. Shahriari that this number (10 times) cannot be true (You can find the estimated values from the National Statistical Center) but I believe that in general the poor receive services of lower qualities. Residents of hard to reach areas, those who reside in ghettos, and pensioners have a poor access to quality healthcare.
Code: 21N
Source: www. aftabyazd.com, Jan 7, 2007 ; No: 1980
My Comment: I agree with Mr. Shahriari that this number (10 times) cannot be true (You can find the estimated values from the National Statistical Center) but I believe that in general the poor receive services of lower qualities. Residents of hard to reach areas, those who reside in ghettos, and pensioners have a poor access to quality healthcare.
Code: 21N
Health in the news: Possible negative growth rate for per capita public health expenditure
"Next year, per capita health expenditure share of the government will face a 2-percent negative growth" said the vice chairman of the Health Commission of the Parliament, Mr. Baghbanian. This may cause people to pay more out of their pocket to balance the total health expenditures.
According to the fourth National Development Plan (2005-2009) per capita health expenditure share of the government was determined to be 7000 Toman (approximately 7.5 USD) while the real allocated share of the government for the coming year is 3660 Toman (3.2 USD) for residents of urban areas and 1660 Toman (1.2 USD) for the rural dwellers he added.
Mr Baghbanian says that residents of rural areas cannot use their health plans to utilize urban health facilities.
Source: www.aftabyazd. com, Jan 25, 2007 No:1995
Code: 20N
According to the fourth National Development Plan (2005-2009) per capita health expenditure share of the government was determined to be 7000 Toman (approximately 7.5 USD) while the real allocated share of the government for the coming year is 3660 Toman (3.2 USD) for residents of urban areas and 1660 Toman (1.2 USD) for the rural dwellers he added.
Mr Baghbanian says that residents of rural areas cannot use their health plans to utilize urban health facilities.
Source: www.aftabyazd. com, Jan 25, 2007 No:1995
Code: 20N
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Six principles of Iranian Health System
After the revolution in 1979, the health system was based on 6 basic principles as follows:
"1)priority of preventive care as a long-term asset, 2) priority of rural and underprivileged areas, with special attention to high-risk groups,3) priority of general practice over specialized medical care, 4) priority of outpatient over inpatient care, 5) maximum feasible integration of preventive and curative services,6) and decentralization, aimed at forming self-sufficient regional and local facilities."
Source: Shadpour K. Primary healthcare networks in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal.2000;6(4):822-825
My comment: I think the Ministry of Health has gone to a great length to make these happen but what we see now after almost 3 decades are somewhat different from the principles. I can see that the government has great achievements in fulfilling the first, the second , and the fifth principles but could not pave the way for the sixth principle. Iranian PHC system is a unique one and has contributed a lot in rapid decline of child and maternal mortality in spite of progressive drop of the economy for many years after the revolution. However, the system failed in decentralization of the services. The fourth principle remained untackled until the introduction of a national program to set up a family medicine network in recent years. I don't know what to say about the fourth principle but to me is not as important as the others. I know that the outpatient care consumes the most part of people's out-of-pocket payments for healthcare and more than 90% of the outpatient care is in private sector. I don't know for sure how the fourth principle facilitated the emergence of the poorly supervised outpatient care market.
Code: 4A
"1)priority of preventive care as a long-term asset, 2) priority of rural and underprivileged areas, with special attention to high-risk groups,3) priority of general practice over specialized medical care, 4) priority of outpatient over inpatient care, 5) maximum feasible integration of preventive and curative services,6) and decentralization, aimed at forming self-sufficient regional and local facilities."
Source: Shadpour K. Primary healthcare networks in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal.2000;6(4):822-825
My comment: I think the Ministry of Health has gone to a great length to make these happen but what we see now after almost 3 decades are somewhat different from the principles. I can see that the government has great achievements in fulfilling the first, the second , and the fifth principles but could not pave the way for the sixth principle. Iranian PHC system is a unique one and has contributed a lot in rapid decline of child and maternal mortality in spite of progressive drop of the economy for many years after the revolution. However, the system failed in decentralization of the services. The fourth principle remained untackled until the introduction of a national program to set up a family medicine network in recent years. I don't know what to say about the fourth principle but to me is not as important as the others. I know that the outpatient care consumes the most part of people's out-of-pocket payments for healthcare and more than 90% of the outpatient care is in private sector. I don't know for sure how the fourth principle facilitated the emergence of the poorly supervised outpatient care market.
Code: 4A
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Health in the news: Establishment of electronic registry network of health insurance plans cuts the costs by 30%
The Health and Treatment Commission correspondent of the Parliament, Dr. Avaz Heidarpour Shahrezaei, rolled out that 80 million insurance plans does not match up with 70 million population of the country [Taking into account a great proportion of uninsured population, there would exist a considerable portion of the over-insured population in the country]. Consequently, it has been decided to employ a software to register all the insured . This way we may bring the problem of over-insurance under control and as a result we can expect an estimated 30% cut in the expenses he said.
Source: www.pezeshkan.ir, Jan 8,2007
My comment: I did not understand what kind of expenses might be cut following this intervention. E-registry sounds like an effective intervention though. In Iran less than one percent of the health insurances are private. So, the government has a good opportunity to put all the public information on health insurance plans together and make one huge data base. Over-insurance is a real problem. I used to see many people presenting more than one or even more than one insurance plans to doctors at the time of visit. Seems to me people tend to keep more than one insurance plans just to receive a better protection. Notwithstanding double and triple insurance , people are not protected by either of their plans in some occasions.
Code:19N
Source: www.pezeshkan.ir, Jan 8,2007
My comment: I did not understand what kind of expenses might be cut following this intervention. E-registry sounds like an effective intervention though. In Iran less than one percent of the health insurances are private. So, the government has a good opportunity to put all the public information on health insurance plans together and make one huge data base. Over-insurance is a real problem. I used to see many people presenting more than one or even more than one insurance plans to doctors at the time of visit. Seems to me people tend to keep more than one insurance plans just to receive a better protection. Notwithstanding double and triple insurance , people are not protected by either of their plans in some occasions.
Code:19N
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Health in the news: With 120 billion dollars annual income Iran should not be viewed as a poor coutnry
The Ministry of Welfare (Refah in Persian) , Mr. Mesri, made it clear that 2 million vulnerable individuals in the country should be cprotected by a health insurance plan. We are now in the second year of the fourth five year development plan (2005-2009) in which health promotion and equity has been considered as the most important focus of national development he said. Mr. Mesri declared that the country has 120 million dollars annual revenue from selling oil and oil products. A reason for high unemployment rate is that Iranians handed over tons of job opportunities to Afghan labor force he stated. Mr. Mesri reiterated that 97 percent of the total population will benefit from one kind of health insurance in the next year.
Source: www.aftabyazd.com, Jan 17,2007 No:1988
My comment: In addition to insurance coverage one would think of the efficiency of the health insurance plans. Healthcare Utilization Survey 2003 showed a 75% self reported health insurance coverage in the country which differs from the official reports.
Code: 18N
Source: www.aftabyazd.com, Jan 17,2007 No:1988
My comment: In addition to insurance coverage one would think of the efficiency of the health insurance plans. Healthcare Utilization Survey 2003 showed a 75% self reported health insurance coverage in the country which differs from the official reports.
Code: 18N
Health in the news: Iran needs 500 more medical diagnostic laboratories
Dr. Alavian, the Vice Chancellor of Health of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, stated that 500 more medical diagnostic laboratories need to be constructed in the country to keep up with the population needs. Utilization frequency of the laboratories is 60 million times per year he added. Dr. Alavian told that the laboratories played a critical role in the 65% of thalassemia case reduction in recent years. Without the help of the laboratories reducing the incidence of hemophilia and PKU in the country will not happen he pointed out.
Source: http://pezeshkan.ir , Jan 19 , 2007
Code: 17N
Source: http://pezeshkan.ir , Jan 19 , 2007
Code: 17N
Health in the news: Some facts on Road Traffic Accidents in Iran
Here are some facts on road traffic accidents (RTI) in Iran appeared in a letter Mr. Ali Zadsar , a Member of the Parliament, wrote to the President titled bitter statistical facts about 330,00 annual road traffic victims in Iran (The shortened version of the letter was brought to public notice by baztab online website):
1-Annual number of road traffic victims is 330,000.
2-Each year, 30,000 death are registered due to RTI.
3-Most accidents take place within 30 kilometers of urban areas.
4-Total length of roads is 180,000 kilometers from which only 31,000 km is either highway or main road(rahe asli in Persian). The remainder are 44,000 km of hazardous side roads (rahe far'ee in Persian) and 100,000 km rural roads.
5-Unexpectedly, the police patrol only 23,000 km(13%) of the entire roads.
6- 90% of travels travel through the ground while rail and air travels comprise 7% and 3% of the grand total respectively.
7-14 million out of 65 million daily travels happen in the capital (Tehran).
8- In Tehran 45% of travelers use public transportation. The remnant use their own private vehicle.
9- With a growth rate of 17%, two million four-wheeler vehicles and motor bikes per year (one million each) are being produced in the country while the growth rate for the road network is only 2%.
10-The government needs 1000 billion Toman (more than a billion dollar) to fix 1500 unsafe points already made known by the experts.
11-20 billion Toman per day (more than 20 million dollars) are spent on RTI.
12-70% of RTI deaths in the country are attributed to violation of the rules by drivers.
13-Nearly all the cars have not equipped with airbag or ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) which are reported as a safe measure to prevent fatal events in RTIs.
Source: www.baztab.ir , Jan 18, 2007, Code: 58295
My comment: I have no insight into the cost of RTI. It sometimes happens that an inadvertently placed extra zero in the reported numbers makes a huge difference. You need to use caution when you want to cite the above mentioned numbers. They may give us a sense of what the problems are but in my opinion the numbers need to be checked over. For example I am not certain about the extent to which the roads are patrolled by the police.
Code:16N
1-Annual number of road traffic victims is 330,000.
2-Each year, 30,000 death are registered due to RTI.
3-Most accidents take place within 30 kilometers of urban areas.
4-Total length of roads is 180,000 kilometers from which only 31,000 km is either highway or main road(rahe asli in Persian). The remainder are 44,000 km of hazardous side roads (rahe far'ee in Persian) and 100,000 km rural roads.
5-Unexpectedly, the police patrol only 23,000 km(13%) of the entire roads.
6- 90% of travels travel through the ground while rail and air travels comprise 7% and 3% of the grand total respectively.
7-14 million out of 65 million daily travels happen in the capital (Tehran).
8- In Tehran 45% of travelers use public transportation. The remnant use their own private vehicle.
9- With a growth rate of 17%, two million four-wheeler vehicles and motor bikes per year (one million each) are being produced in the country while the growth rate for the road network is only 2%.
10-The government needs 1000 billion Toman (more than a billion dollar) to fix 1500 unsafe points already made known by the experts.
11-20 billion Toman per day (more than 20 million dollars) are spent on RTI.
12-70% of RTI deaths in the country are attributed to violation of the rules by drivers.
13-Nearly all the cars have not equipped with airbag or ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) which are reported as a safe measure to prevent fatal events in RTIs.
Source: www.baztab.ir , Jan 18, 2007, Code: 58295
My comment: I have no insight into the cost of RTI. It sometimes happens that an inadvertently placed extra zero in the reported numbers makes a huge difference. You need to use caution when you want to cite the above mentioned numbers. They may give us a sense of what the problems are but in my opinion the numbers need to be checked over. For example I am not certain about the extent to which the roads are patrolled by the police.
Code:16N
Monday, January 15, 2007
Health in the news: Per capita insurance premium for diabetics
The executive director (Modir Aamel in Persian) of the Iranian Advocate Association for Diabetics ("anjomane hemayat az bimarane diabeti" in Persian , Shakour Omidi, announced that patients with diabetes can purchase an insurance policy at the price of 60,000 Toman(70 dollars) [for one year]. The association pays the insurance premium of patients who cannot afford to pay for the premium he said. The annual cost of treatment of seven million patients with diabetes in Iran is estimated to be 900 billion Toman (approximately 1 billion dollars) Shakour Omidi reported.
Source: www.jamejamonline.ir, Jan 12 , 2007
Code: 15N
Source: www.jamejamonline.ir, Jan 12 , 2007
Code: 15N
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Health in the news: Total Health Expenditure as a percent of GDP in Iran is less than that of comparable countries
Dr. Amini , member of the Health and Treatment Commission of the Parliament says that in recent years while gross domestic product (GDP) has been gone up, the health expenditure percent of GDP has not been proportionately increased. In Iran, this ratio is approximately 5.6% while 7%-8% is that of comparable countries . Amini added that now the budget deficit of the Ministry of Health is 350 billion Tomans (approximately 380 million dollars) and university hospitals are heavily indebted to pharmaceutical companies for unpaid purchase of medicines. As a result, patients have to pay out of their pocket for prescription medicines in many occasions.
Source: http://www.aftabyazd.com/ , Jan 13, 2007 No: 1984
Code:14N
Source: http://www.aftabyazd.com/ , Jan 13, 2007 No: 1984
Code:14N
Health in the news: Third wave of HIV infection is on the way
"Sexual transmission of HIV infection is gradually showing up in Iran" Dr Mohammad Mehdi Gooya, the director of the Center for Disease Control of the country said. "This warrants an immediate intervention and if does not take place, we will witness a huge and sudden rise in the frequency of new HIV positive patients" he added. Dr. Gooya recognized three waves of HIV infection. Transfusion of infected blood products to hemophiliacs led to the first wave of infection in 1987. The second wave was diagnosed in 1996-7 by detection of a large number of IV drug abusers within and outside the jails affected with the virus. Dr. Gooya says that although the second wave is now predominant, we have been seeing the signs of the appearance of the third wave since 2 years ago.Third episode of the infection is because of sexual transmission of the virus. Seaking optimistically about a comprehensive interventions program for fighting with HIV with an accent on prevention, he stresses that both governmental and non-governmental organizations are serious in educational programs for people at greatest risk of the infection.
Source: www.jamejamonline.ir , Jan, 10 2007
Code: 13N
Source: www.jamejamonline.ir , Jan, 10 2007
Code: 13N
Health in the news: Updates on HIV/AIDS in Iran
Below is the latest update on the number of people with HIV/AIDS in Iran according to the MOH periodical report on the incidence of HIV/AIDS.
The latest HIV/AIDS statistics (December 20, 2006) show:
1- HIV positive or AIDS: 14,090 diagnosed cases (13,308 (94.4%) male and 782(5.6%) female).
2-From the total mentioned above, 789 male and 75 female have diagnosed as AIDS.
3-4407 of them are in the age range of 25-34 years (most frequent affected age group) followed by the age group of 35-44 years with 3338 cases. Among cases with AIDS: 25-34 years:298 cases, and 35-44: 296 AIDS patients.
4-Most frequent route of the infection transmission was IV drug abusing (64.9%) followed by unknown (25.5%), Sexual (7.5%), blood and blood products transfusion(1.7%) and finally vertical (maternal) transmission(0.5%). Among those died of AIDS: IV drug abusing (72.1%), unknown (10.5%),sexual(9.1%),blood and blood products transfusion(7.1%), and vertical transmission(0.6%).
5-Mortality: 1760 deaths (96.3 % male) up to the date of this report.
Source: http://pezeshkan.ir, Jan 6 2007
My comment: According to different sources some 2 (an official report) to 6 (WHO estimates) million individuals in Iran are opium addict. A considerable majority of the addicts are IV drug abusers. If drug addiction continues to be this high, IV drug abusing will remain the main route of HIV transmission in Iran. It seems that the contribution of sexual contacts (mostly heterosexual) as a route of HIV transmission in the total number of HIV positives will considerably rise in near future.
Code:12N
The latest HIV/AIDS statistics (December 20, 2006) show:
1- HIV positive or AIDS: 14,090 diagnosed cases (13,308 (94.4%) male and 782(5.6%) female).
2-From the total mentioned above, 789 male and 75 female have diagnosed as AIDS.
3-4407 of them are in the age range of 25-34 years (most frequent affected age group) followed by the age group of 35-44 years with 3338 cases. Among cases with AIDS: 25-34 years:298 cases, and 35-44: 296 AIDS patients.
4-Most frequent route of the infection transmission was IV drug abusing (64.9%) followed by unknown (25.5%), Sexual (7.5%), blood and blood products transfusion(1.7%) and finally vertical (maternal) transmission(0.5%). Among those died of AIDS: IV drug abusing (72.1%), unknown (10.5%),sexual(9.1%),blood and blood products transfusion(7.1%), and vertical transmission(0.6%).
5-Mortality: 1760 deaths (96.3 % male) up to the date of this report.
Source: http://pezeshkan.ir, Jan 6 2007
My comment: According to different sources some 2 (an official report) to 6 (WHO estimates) million individuals in Iran are opium addict. A considerable majority of the addicts are IV drug abusers. If drug addiction continues to be this high, IV drug abusing will remain the main route of HIV transmission in Iran. It seems that the contribution of sexual contacts (mostly heterosexual) as a route of HIV transmission in the total number of HIV positives will considerably rise in near future.
Code:12N
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Health in the news: physician per population
Dr. Gholamreza Heidari, the director of the health promotion and health network expansion center of the MOH says: according to the latest updates in our policies we need 1 physician per 4000 individuals to build up a health team.
Source: Jamejamonline, Jan 6, 2007
Code:11N
Source: Jamejamonline, Jan 6, 2007
Code:11N
Health in the news: Lack of hospitals in some districts of the coutnry
Dr. Lankarani, the Minister of Health, reported that only less than 10% of 300 districts (shahrestan in Persian) in the country lack any hospital. This indicates the main problem of our healthcare is not the number of hospitals but rather the quality of healthcare. Improving the quality of health insurance policies will lead to a drastic improvement of quality of care he stressed.
Source: Jamejanonline, www.jamejamonline.ir January 10, 2007
Code: 10N
Source: Jamejanonline, www.jamejamonline.ir January 10, 2007
Code: 10N
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Private sector and advanced diagnostic healthcare
Dr. Lankarani, the Minister of Health, says in 2005, Tehran had 38 MRI centers and 37 of them were in private sector (www.baztab.com , code: 56945, Jan 3,2007). MRI might be considered as a typical example of advanced diagnostic healthcare in developing countries with limited healthcare budget. Number of private MRI centers can serve as a good indicator of rapidly expanding expensive healthcare in private sector. A large number of people have financial obstacles to purchase advanced diagnostic and therapeutic healthcare from private sector. This is not only because a great majority of the patients are uninsured but also originates from the fact that insurance plans generally do not (fully) cover advanced healthcare services. Many of the advanced private medical diagnostic centers including medical imaging centers (MRI and CT Scan) are not willing to make a contract with public insurance companies just because it is a huge fear about not being reimbursed in a timely manner.
Now, the Ministry of Health has realized that inequality in healthcare utilization is going to be the most important challenge of Iranian healthcare.The MOH does not have effective means to take control over the expanding private sector and people have to pay most of the healthcare out of their pocket.
Code:4A
Now, the Ministry of Health has realized that inequality in healthcare utilization is going to be the most important challenge of Iranian healthcare.The MOH does not have effective means to take control over the expanding private sector and people have to pay most of the healthcare out of their pocket.
Code:4A
Health in the news: Therapeutic care for road traffic injuries is completely for free
Dr. Lankarani, the Minister of Health, in a reaction to a Member of Parliament (MP) said that therapeutic healthcare for road traffic injury (RTI) victims is for free in public hospitals. The MP did not convince after listening to the Minister's remarks in regard to healthcare provision for RTI victims.
Source: Baztab,Jan 3, 2006, http://www.baztab.com/ news code: 56945
My comment: I don't know for sure what percent of RTI victims are being transferred to private hospitals but I suspect the majority of cases receive their advanced therapeutic care in public hospitals. Private hospitals are not willing to accept multiple trauma cases; hence, they have not expanded their capacity to admit these patients. All ,for example, know that Sina and Shohadaye Tajrish Hospitals are two hospitals in Tehran with advanced trauma care and their emergency trauma services providing free of charge services for RTI cases happening anywhere in the country.
Code:9N
Source: Baztab,Jan 3, 2006, http://www.baztab.com/ news code: 56945
My comment: I don't know for sure what percent of RTI victims are being transferred to private hospitals but I suspect the majority of cases receive their advanced therapeutic care in public hospitals. Private hospitals are not willing to accept multiple trauma cases; hence, they have not expanded their capacity to admit these patients. All ,for example, know that Sina and Shohadaye Tajrish Hospitals are two hospitals in Tehran with advanced trauma care and their emergency trauma services providing free of charge services for RTI cases happening anywhere in the country.
Code:9N
Health in the news: Iranian physicians achieved the best possible survival rate for their patients with liver transplant
Dr. lankarani, the Minister of Health said that Iranian patients who recieved liver transplant now have a one-year and five-year survival rate of 82% and 90% that is comparable with international standards. He added only 10 percent of 200 liver transplants were done for patients with hepatitis C as the cause of liver failure that depicts a completely different picture from that of the western countries where hepatitis C is the main reason for which liver transplant is performed. The main problem we are dealing with in relation to liver transplantation in Iran is patient followup he reiterated.
Source: http://pezeshkan.ir/, December 29, 2007
My comment: There is no doubt that the rate of successful liver transplantation is increasing in the country. However, comparing with kidney transplantation, this rate seems to be very small. The first liver transplantation surgery in Iran back to more than 20 years ago but it was limited to Shiraz Namazi Hospital for quite a lot of years. Recently, the country has expanded the capacity for liver transplantation surgery in Tehran and maybe some other big cities but I guess Iran has not enough expert liver transplant surgeons and hepatologists in order to increase this capacity in short term.
Code:8N
Source: http://pezeshkan.ir/, December 29, 2007
My comment: There is no doubt that the rate of successful liver transplantation is increasing in the country. However, comparing with kidney transplantation, this rate seems to be very small. The first liver transplantation surgery in Iran back to more than 20 years ago but it was limited to Shiraz Namazi Hospital for quite a lot of years. Recently, the country has expanded the capacity for liver transplantation surgery in Tehran and maybe some other big cities but I guess Iran has not enough expert liver transplant surgeons and hepatologists in order to increase this capacity in short term.
Code:8N
Health in the news: Health insurance organizations are not able to cover all health needs of the population
Dr. Bagheri Lankarani, the Minister of Health remarked: Health inequality and lack of an comprehensive and uniform health insurance plan is the salient health problem in Iran. He added that without the establishment of an uniform, comprehensive public health insurance plan the Ministry of Health cannot help the system be more equitable. He admired the insurance organizations ,however, for increasing the public health insurance coverage from 75% to almost 90% in recent years.
Source: No: 1977, Jan 3, 2007 Aftab newspaper, http://www.aftabyazd.com/
My comment: I think this is quite understandable. We have at least 4 huge health insurance companies in Iran:Social Security Organization, Medical Treatment Insurance Organization, Imdad (relief) Committee Health Insurance for poor people, and Military Service Health Organization. Private insurance's coverage is around 1% . Many have double and even triple coverage while some (approximately 25% according to 2002 Household Healthcare Utilization Survey ) lack any. People who are working with a number of prestigious public, or private organizations benefit from a special coverage provided by complementary health insurance policy. Many attempts have failed so far in order to integrate the plans and build up a unified one. This remains, I believe, to be a major problem until the system makes an effective and simple policy to have one integrated health insurance plan for the entire population or alternatively implement a HMO-type policy.
Code:7N
Source: No: 1977, Jan 3, 2007 Aftab newspaper, http://www.aftabyazd.com/
My comment: I think this is quite understandable. We have at least 4 huge health insurance companies in Iran:Social Security Organization, Medical Treatment Insurance Organization, Imdad (relief) Committee Health Insurance for poor people, and Military Service Health Organization. Private insurance's coverage is around 1% . Many have double and even triple coverage while some (approximately 25% according to 2002 Household Healthcare Utilization Survey ) lack any. People who are working with a number of prestigious public, or private organizations benefit from a special coverage provided by complementary health insurance policy. Many attempts have failed so far in order to integrate the plans and build up a unified one. This remains, I believe, to be a major problem until the system makes an effective and simple policy to have one integrated health insurance plan for the entire population or alternatively implement a HMO-type policy.
Code:7N
Monday, January 1, 2007
Health in the news: Emergency service covers only 9% of road traffic accidents in Iran
"While in developed countries emergency serivices cover more than 80% of road traffic injuries , this figure in Iran is only 9%"Dr. Shahram Alamdary chief of Relief and Rescue Organization (Sazemane emdad va nejat) said. Rec Crescent and Reilief and Rescue Oraganizations are two bodies responsible for providing emergency services with road traffic injury victims.
Source: Jamejanonline, December 31, 2006
Code:6N
Source: Jamejanonline, December 31, 2006
Code:6N
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