TEHRAN – Six Iranian cities have been so far registered in the Healthy Cities Network of the World Health Organization (WHO), Jafar Sadegh Tabrizi, head of the Network Management Center of the Ministry of Health, has stated.

Out of 6 cities, Sahand, Jolfa, and Maragheh are in northwestern East Azarbaijan province, Ardakan is in central Yazd province, Kashan is in central Isfahan province, and Germi is in northwestern Ardabil province, he said, IRNA reported on Tuesday.

A healthy city should meet socio-economic indicators for implementing innovative projects. The Ministry of Health plans to expand the network of healthy cities in Iran, and in the future, the number of healthy cities will reach 31 in the country, Tabrizi noted.

A healthy city should meet at least 80 percent of the 80 indicators in 9 areas recognized by WHO, ranging from socio-economic measures, governance, and increasing potentials to institutional transformation and cooperation based on planning and implementing innovative projects. 

The Eastern Mediterranean regional network has 67 cities from 13 countries.

Sahand, a new town in East Azarbaijan, has recently been awarded the first healthy city in Iran under the World Health Organization’s Healthy Cities Program.

WHO promotes Healthy Cities by awarding, and endorsing, flagship cities such as Sahand, and by establishing National Healthy Cities Networks, which bring together healthy cities across countries through local capacity building, monitoring, implementation, and exchanging experiences. In both cases, WHO provides strategic, and technical support as well as capacity-building at the national and local levels.

FB/MG