TEHRAN – To address infertility, which is known as one of the main challenges of health and population in the country, the government has adopted different measures, including infertility insurance to lower high-cost and out-of-pocket expenses of infertility treatment.

Covering the services associated with fertility treatment, the insurance organizations have played a key role in infertility treatment since the Iranian year 1400 (2021), IRNA reported.

The covered services include the costs of tests, medications, assisted reproductive methods, like IVF, and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which have facilitated access to specialized services and encourage couples to have regular health visits.

In government centers, 90 percent of the treatment costs, which are based on subsidized rates, are covered, while in private centers, 90 percent of the costs, which are based on free rates, are covered.

Currently, 150 medical centers are providing health services to infertile couples, out of which 120 centers are under the coverage of health insurance.

Over the past Iranian year (March 2025 – March 2026), the health insurance reviewed a total of 107,374 claims and reimbursed 9.98 trillion rials (around 6.743 million dollars) to medical centers.

The health insurance also paid 11.16 trillion rials (almost 7.541 million dollars) for prescribed medications to infertile couples. Since the Iranian year 1400, the health insurance has invested 37 trillion rials (about 25 million dollars).

Apart from insurance, the government has taken other measures to boost fertility, such as developing specialized infertility treatment centers in metropolises and deprived areas, considering incentive policies for infertile couples, like financial support and granting loans for treatment, implementing national projects, and comprehensive programs on family health and population to promote childbearing and reduce infertility.

Equipping medical centers with advanced facilities for in vitro fertilization (IVF), providing counselling and psychological services are among other actions taken to help infertile couples.

Supporting family and youth population projects

The Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology and Knowledge-based Economy, in cooperation with the Innovation and Prosperity Fund, will support the implementation of projects in the family and youth population sectors.

To this end, in January, the Vice-Presidency announced the second call to organize and fund innovations in line with achieving the country’s demographic goals, IRNA reported.

It focuses on three main areas, namely infertility treatment, childbearing, maternal and child health, as well as seven key specialized areas, including cell therapy, gene therapy, tissue engineering (advanced treatments and novel approaches to improve fertility and treat genetic disorders), assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and artificial intelligence, and nanotechnologies to improve diagnosis, health monitoring, and assisted reproductive treatments.

It also includes drugs and diagnostic kits for the development of strategic medicines and the manufacture of diagnostic kits; photonics, laser, and optogenetics technologies, with a focus on low-power lasers, adaptive optics, and quantum photonics; and medicinal plants based on Persian medicine to develop products to increase fertility.

In the research sector, social research on field surveys of the causes of declining fertility in various provinces of the country, empowering women and mothers, supporting creative centers in the field of family, raising awareness, developing culture and preventive measures in infertility, and expanding search and production infrastructure for comprehensive centers are of particular importance.

Aging rate in Iran exceeds global average’

According to the head of Welfare Organization, the rate of aging in Iran is growing faster than the global average, so that the country will be among the oldest countries in the world in 25 years.

Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) age classification in 2025, the elderly population constitutes those aged 60 and older. Accordingly, 14 percent of the country’s population is old now, ISNA quoted Seyed Javad Hosseini as saying.

A population is considered young when seven percent of people are 60 or older; when seven to 14 percent of people are over 60, the country is said to be aging. Countries with 14 to 21 percent and 21 to 27 percent of people aged 60 or over are aged and super-aged, respectively, the official said.

In the Iranian year 1395 (2016 – 2017), only 9.5 percent of the population was aged over 60, and the global average aging rate was about 12 to 13 percent. In the Iranian year 1415 (2036 – 2037), the figure will rise to 15 percent in Iran and 16.5 percent in the world. However, in 1430 (2051 – 2052), the figure will reach 31 percent in Iran, and 21.5 percent in the world, the official noted.

MT/MG