Resignation of the Minister of Health; From the Budget to the Health Transformation Plan
The deputy health minister says Dr. Hashemi's resignation is not limited to next year's budget, but also concerns the purchase of medicine, medical equipment, and social security debts. The health minister's resignation two weeks ago has not yet been officially announced.
Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi’s resignation from the Ministry of Health has not yet been officially announced, but various sources confirm it. He wrote his resignation letter 15 days ago, but the news was reported in the media two days ago. Entebbe News Agency writes, citing an “informed source,” that before noon on Monday, January 1, he said goodbye to the Council of Deputies of the Ministry of Health at the end of the meeting and went to visit a nursing home for the disabled.
Other sources, whose names were not mentioned, told "Entikhab" that the government has accepted the resignation and is looking for the desired candidate to head the Ministry of Health.
Tasnim News Agency also quoted Behrouz Boni, a member of the Parliament's Health and Medical Treatment Commission, as saying: "It seems that the discussion of the Health Minister's resignation is true because the Ministry of Health's public relations department has not denied this issue."
The MP said that Ghazizadeh did not resign simply because of the reduction in healthcare funding, and if his decision is serious, he will explain the reasons.
Ali Akbar Haqdoost, Deputy Minister of Health, presented a list of the ministry's financial problems and told IRNA: "There have been differences of opinion, which of course are not only related to the budget issue, and the main issue is related to other issues, including the Health Transformation Program. Because the resources that should be allocated to the Health Transformation Program, both in the field of health insurance and in the field of the Ministry of Health, have not been sufficient and timely. However, it should be said that the Health Transformation Program budget only includes about 20 percent of the Ministry of Health budget."
Haqdost has pointed to problems such as non-payment of retirement bonuses, purchase of medicine and medical equipment, and social security debts.
The Deputy Minister of Strategic Planning and Coordination of the Ministry of Health added that according to the calculations of the Ministry of Health, the Health Insurance Organization, and the Planning and Budget Organization, 16 trillion tomans was supposed to be allocated to the Health Insurance Organization, which was reduced to 12 trillion tomans in the 2019 budget bill. He emphasized that some pharmaceutical companies are on the verge of bankruptcy due to delays in insurance payments, and if production by these companies is stopped, the Ministry of Health will be forced to import drugs at great expense.
In the latest reports, Tasnim News Agency confirmed Ghazizadeh's resignation, stating that the reason was the lack of budget allocation for the purchase of medicine and medical equipment. Tasnim reported that Mahmoud Vaezi, Rouhani's chief of staff, tried to convince Ghazizadeh to stay, but the health minister insisted that the budget for the purchase of medicine and medical equipment must be provided.
Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi has been one of the most controversial ministers in Rouhani's cabinet. He owns a specialized ophthalmology clinic and is active on social media, and his sarcastic behavior towards poor patients has been the subject of much discussion. In early October 2018, during a trip to a deprived area, he advised an elderly man who was complaining about his inability to pay for his wife's high physiotherapy costs: "Apply it yourself."
Source: DW
