TEHRAN – Under the theme “Health Along the Path of Life,” National Health Insurance Week will be held from October 24 to 30, focusing on “Innovation and Transformation in the Basic Health Insurance System: Shifting from Treatment-Oriented to Health-Oriented Care.”
The themes for each day of the week are as follows:
* Saturday, October 24: National Consensus and Universal Health Insurance for Health Equity
* Sunday, October 25: From Government Support to Philanthropic Contributions: Ensuring Sustainable Support for Patients with Hard-to-Treat Diseases
* Monday, October 26: Data Mining and Smart Monitoring to Safeguard Resources and Ensure Families’ Financial Protection
* Tuesday, October 27: Smart Innovation, Transparency, and Easy Access to Services
* Wednesday, October 28: Health Literacy, Family Physicians, and Sustainable Prevention Through Public Participation
* Thursday, October 29: Joining Forces with the National Health Team for a Healthier Nation
* Friday, October 30: Supporting People from Healthy Childbearing to Healthy Aging
According to the health ministry, the Health Insurance Organization covers about two million patients with rare and hard-to-treat diseases.
All resident and non-resident foreign nationals with legal stay in Iran must have basic health insurance coverage under a new Cabinet of Ministers enactment.
To safeguard the patients’ health and lower financial burden on households, tens of specialized healthcare service packages have been defined for them, with some more being continuously developed.
The packages include diagnostic, therapeutic, pharmaceutical, rehabilitation, and dental services, whether in the form of outpatient or inpatient services, which are provided with minimal deductibles or free of charge.
In 2024, seven more anti-cancer drugs were added to the list of rare diseases fund, with health insurance covering 70 percent of the costs.
“Currently, with the inclusion of these seven drugs, a total of 90 anti-cancer drugs are covered by the rare and hard-to-treat diseases fund, and the health insurance is paying 70 to 95 percent of their costs,” IRIB quoted Kameli, an official with the health insurance organization, as saying.
The number of health centers that have concluded contracts with the Health Insurance Organization increased by seven percent in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) compared with the year before.
In 2025, more than 53,000 centers concluded contracts with health insurance organizations, IRNA quoted Keivan Tajbakhsh, an official with the Organization, as saying.
Health insurance contracts have been signed with government, non-government, private, and charity centers for services.
The centers include doctors’ offices, hospitals, pharmacies, rehabilitation centers, and all medical centers.
“We hope to witness an increase in the number of health centers that are parties to the contract with Health Insurance Organization as new forms of the contract, approved by the Supreme Council of Insurance, are announced,” Tajbakhsh said.
He stated that 13,931 pharmacies, 20,804 doctors’ offices, 2,049 clinics, 2,446 independent laboratories, and 4261 rehabilitation centers, both independent and affiliated with other organizations, have concluded contracts with the Health Insurance Organization.
Efforts to enhance intl. cooperation
In August, the head of the Iranian Health Insurance Organization, Mohammad-Mehdi Nasehi, and officials from the International Conference on Public Health (ICOPH) committee explored avenues to enhance collaborations.
The Conference chair, Hematram Yadav, and its convener, Isanka Gamage, held a meeting with Iranian officials to discuss ways to boost cooperation in the fields of health insurance research and the exchange of managerial expertise, Borna news agency reported.
The officials met on the sidelines of the 12th International Conference on Public Health (ICOPH) held from August 5th to 7th in Bali, Malaysia. An Iranian delegation led by Nasehi attended the conference.
Lauding Iran’s active participation, Yadav said enhancement of scientific cooperation with Iran would be a valuable opportunity for ICOPH members.
For his part, Nasehi voiced the country’s readiness for the promotion of scientific cooperation with ICOPH. Referring to the scientific and practical capabilities of Asian countries, he stated that fostering ties with universities, research institutes, and health organizations in the ICOPH member states could pave the way for broader scientific, research, and managerial cooperation in health and health insurance sectors.
In May, Iran and Tajikistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the health sector focusing on six parts, including medical education, research, healthcare, treatment, medicine, and health insurance.
According to Nasehi, the MOU was signed on the sidelines of the 18th session of the Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation between the Republic of Tajikistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran which was held on May 26, in Dushanbe under the chairmanship of the co-chairs of the commission — Minister of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan Daler Juma and Minister of Energy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Abbas Aliabadi, IRNA reported.
Fostering ties in the health sector, particularly health insurance, is a part of Iran’s six-point roadmap for water diplomacy.
Referring to Iran’s expertise in health insurance, the official said the country’s experiences in implementing health insurance, referral systems, and other fields of health will be shared with Tajikistan through consultation and implementation.
In December 2025, Nasehi and the Minister of Health and Social Protection of Tajikistan, Jamoliddin Abdullozoda, agreed to promote cooperation between the two countries in the field of medical health insurance.
During a meeting held in Tajikistan, the two sides discussed the potential for expanding ties by launching joint investments in the health sector, ihio.gov.ir reported.
For his part, Nasehi announced the organization’s readiness to share experiences with Tajikistan to help strengthen its insurance system.
MT/MG
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