TEHRAN - The health ministry’s program for early diagnosis of non-communicable diseases has brought great achievements, especially regarding cancers.

Cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and mental health diseases are the five main categories of non-communicable diseases, ISNA quoted Kourosh Etemad, a health ministry official as saying.

Smoking, alcohol consumption, low physical activity, unhealthy food, and air pollutants are the main risk factors for these diseases, he added.

Early screening of non-communicable diseases and control of risk factors are the two ways to deal with the diseases, the official noted.

He went on to say that the diagnosis of osteoporosis in women over 50 will be added to the early diagnosis program in the next Iranian calendar year which starts on March 21.

In 2020, the health ministry announced it was implementing a plan aiming to decrease premature deaths caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25 percent over the course of five years.

The document for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, which began in 2014, was focusing on the control of the four major cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases.

Under the document, 13 goals were set to be achieved by 2025 to reduce premature deaths from non-communicable diseases by 25 percent.

On the other hand, risk factors related to these diseases, including a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, poor nutrition, and smoking were also considered.

This is one of the most unique documents, according to which services related to non-communicable diseases have been provided, in addition to the screening of some cancers including cervical, breast, and colon cancers.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Iran account for 82 percent of all deaths. Over the past 20 years, deaths caused by NCDs have risen by 14.5 percent. In 2016, 304,400 premature deaths were caused by NCDs in Iran, according to WHO.

Cardiovascular diseases have the highest share of 43 percent of the total deaths caused by NCDs.

Some 0.5 percent of premature deaths happen before the age of 70 and 2 percent before the age of 50.

In September 2022, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said that Iran has one of the strongest health systems in the region and that this opportunity should be used optimally in the field of health diplomacy.

Based on innovative indicators of health technology development in 2021, Iran was ranked 60th among 132 countries, which shows an improvement of 60 steps compared to 2014, Younes Panahi, the deputy health minister for research and technology, has announced.

In June 2021, Ahmed al-Mandhari, the World Health Organization director for Eastern Mediterranean Region, said the Islamic Republic of Iran is a role model for primary health care.

The national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1402, which starts on March 21, has increased the health sector’s budget by 29 percent compared to the current year’s budget.

The bill has proposed a budget of 2,730 trillion rials (about $6.8 billion) for the Ministry of Health, IRNA reported.

The administration has also proposed 690 trillion rials (about $1.7 billion) as subsidies to provide medicine by health industries.

MG