TEHRAN – Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarkandi said the family physician programme will kick off in the current year of Iran, which began on March 21.
“This is a large program based on social behavior change. Designing new patient pathways, reforming referral patterns, and improving healthcare network systems requires careful coordination between the Department of Health, Governors and other relevant agencies at the state level.”
Therefore, it is absolutely essential to develop a national headquarters led by the president to oversee the overall management of the program, he added.
“We have already reached agreement on ten key issues, including financial resources, location, implementation stages and public information. Furthermore, the dean of the University of Medical Sciences will hold a meeting this week to complete the implementation model for the program,” Zafarqandi said.
The Rural Family Physician Program was launched in 2005. It targeted villages and cities with a population of less than 20,000 at the time, providing more focus on treatment referrals and more convenient access to health services.
Regular examinations and monitoring of people’s health, 24-hour access to basic services and primary care, and frequent visits to physicians are characteristic of your family doctor.
Medical, dentistry, mental, midwifery, nutrition, laboratory, pharmaceutical, and medical imaging are one of the services provided by the program.
Based on the family physician program, doctors and midwives providing services in the rural areas, there are 3,300 villagers with about 5,200 midwives in the village.
In September 2023, Mohsen Barowni, a health ministry official, said, “The Family Physician Program is being implemented in three phases. The 59th city was included in the program. In the second phase, 93 cities covered a total of 182 cities, with more than 20 million Iranians reporting.
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