As part of the next phase of the Health Reforms Plan, 169 cancer diagnosis and treatment centers and 1,100 natural delivery units, will be established by the Health Ministry by the end of the year (March 20, 2016).
A separate system for registering maternal mortality will also be set up, said Mohammad Aghajani, deputy minister of health for treatment services.
Providing intensive care for patients in emergency rooms (ER), increasing the capacity of ER by adding 2,000 beds, and providing 2,400 intensive care beds, are on the ministry’s agenda in the next two years, the Persian language newspaper ‘Iran’ quoted him as saying.
Stating that at present 2,000 operation theatres (OTs) are under renovation, he said “last year $303 million was spent for renovation of OTs and fitting them with the latest equipment.”
The ministry can add 2,000 hospital beds per year, he said, noting that the cost of adding each hospital bed for intensive care is $151 million.
At present, “we have a shortfall of 80,000 hospital beds, but funds are grossly inadequate.”
He also pointed to improvement in aerial emergency services and said 17 air emergency stations were set up across the country. “We plan to add 44 more in the near future.”
Iran has a high rate of traffic accidents. Annually, 20,000 people lose their lives and more than 800,000 are injured in road accidents. The most convenient means of rescue and transportation of injured patients are air ambulances. Like ground ambulances, air ambulances are equipped with gadgets vital to monitoring and treating the injured or sick.
Aghajani said the current focus of the Health Ministry is on prevention and treatment of four common problems: brain stroke, cardiovascular diseases, cancers and traffic injuries.
The cancer diagnosis and treatment centers will be launched in medical universities from early October. The total funding for health reforms is $1.4 billion, and last year, a major portion of the amount was allocated to the ministry.
Nearly $267 million has been allocated for healthcare programs in informal settlements and areas with populations of less than 50,000 and 20,000.
The Health Reform Plan was launched in May 2014.
