The Health Ministry has directed all hospitals under its affiliation to report any cases of child abuse or neonate addiction to the State Welfare Organization. “All hospitals are now mandated to cooperate with judicial authorities in following up on such cases. The infants will be released to the custody of the SWO while their addicted mothers are referred to a de-addiction center and stay there until recovery,” said Dr. Mohammad Hadi Ayyazi, deputy health minister in social affairs. The decision was made after a recent meeting between the Tehran, Iran, and Shahid Beheshti universities of medical sciences where reports on neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in the country were presented and discussed, ISNA reported. He said the SWO is cooperating with non-governmental organizations to identify such parents across the country before the lives of their new-born are endangered.
