Islamic Republic of Iran’s Health System: Achievements and Prospective

Health is a valuable asset which paves the way for the development of personal capabilities and helps the steady development of the society (1). Promoting health is not only a responsibility but also a right and as mentioned by the Iranian constitution and the intra-and inter-department health documents, the government is responsible to guarantee the provision of high quality care to every Iranian and reduce their personal and social health risks (2). Islamic Republic of Iran's health system has, during the past three decades since the Islamic revolution , experienced profound developments in its different missions including education, research and health care; this comes while it has also faced several challenges during this time as a result of the population and epidemiologic changes in the country. As a result, in order to achieve the Islamic Republic of Iran's vision in 2025, the coun-try's strategies have been illustrated as the Comprehensive Scientific Health Plan (5) and Health Innovation and Science Development Plan. The Comprehensive Scientific Health Plan, which is based on the country's Comprehensive Scientific Plan, shows road to education, research and technology excellence (5), whereas the Health Innovation and Science Development Plan provides the knowledge and research application strategies needed to provide different classes of the society with high quality healthcare in a way that evidence-based health policies are formulated in accordance with the country's indigenous conditions and the Islamic -Iranian values. Nowadays, the influence of social factors such as income, education, job, environment and education in the first years of life on health and health equity has been completely realized (1, 6). Hence, high quality care and health equity needs close collaboration between different levels of policy-making, management and supervision, outside the Ministry of Health. And justice in health has been considered as a main policy by policymakers in all their strategies. This issue is so important that the Islamic Republic of Iran's health system for the first time in the country issued a 52-point index of justice in health, which is approved by the Iranian Cabinet. These indices are now a national document used by authorities and policy-makers in all decision makings. Also in the composition of the country's fifth economic, social and cultural development plan, in the health section which is a 5-year period in the overall health plans of the country, this issue has been carefully taken into consideration and in many of the drafting stages …