A preliminary analysis by the Medical Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRIMC) has found that 90% of the private medical centers in the capital have expressed readiness to offer medical tourism services, announced the IRIMC head.
Alireza Zali told Tasnim news agency, “Despite Iran’s enormous medical capacities in comparison to west Asian countries, the number of foreign medical tourists seeking treatment does not line up with this potential.”
Iran is at the vanguard of development of innovative medical scopes for interventions ranging as broadly as cardiovascular surgery, fertility treatment, organ transplantation, as well as in nanotechnology, and stem cells technology. “This puts us in good stead to attract tourists form Muslim countries and the East Mediterranean region.”
However, prior to the recent formation of the strategic council for health tourism, “our efforts were disjointed and thus prevented us from progressing” he said, and called the establishment of this council in March 2014, a step forward.
He explained the council has four principle arms: ministry of health and medical education, medical council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization, and the ministry of foreign affairs. These are underpinned by several working groups.
Zali who heads the investment and budget working group, was optimistic about the private sector’s initiatives in this regard.
