Shortage of specialist doctors in Iran; MP: Patients are given quarterly appointments

The spokesperson for the Islamic Consultative Assembly's Education and Research Commission stated that "we do not have a proper system for distributing doctors," emphasizing that in some areas, patients are given appointments after several months.

Ahmad Hossein Fallahi, a representative from Hamedan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, said in an interview with Fars News Agency on Sunday, May 1, referring to the "conflict of interest" in making decisions to "decentralize specialists from the center of the country," saying: "If those who have their own offices and organizational positions want to make decisions, we will not achieve the desired result."

Emphasizing the lack of specialist doctors in Hamedan and the fact that patients are given appointments every three or even four months, he added: "Specialist doctors are not present during holidays. For example, during Nowruz, there was no specialist doctor in the city for 20 days."

Fair access to doctors is one of the most important indicators of the efficiency of the health system.

Previously, Tasnim News Agency reported, citing statistics from the Medical System Organization, that the per capita physician ratio in Iran is "11.6 physicians, both general and specialist, for every 10,000 people," and is "much lower than other countries in the region and the world, such as Syria and Mongolia."

According to Mohammad Raizadeh, the head of the Iranian Medical System Organization, "the Ministry of Health does not have the budget to keep doctors in deprived areas" so that it can send them "to these areas with reasonable salaries and income," and eliminating the shortage of doctors requires "serious work by the government and parliament."

The health situation in some parts of Iran has been reported as “dire.” According to the governor of Sistan and Baluchestan on July 10, 2021, a city in the province with a population of 55,000 has only two general practitioners, some health centers lack cars, the distance between two health centers in the province is 1,250 kilometers, and “many health posts in the province are vacant.”

Source: Voice of America