TEHRAN – Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarqandi has explored avenues to expand cooperation with his counterparts from BRICS member states in different fields of the health sector.

Zafarqandi held several meetings on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA), which is being held from May 18 to June 23 in Geneva, Switzerland, IRNA reported.

An Iranian delegation led by the health minister is participating in the event.

Holding a meeting with the Indian Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Zafarqandi highlighted the role of India in the pharmaceutical industry and emphasized the need for the enhancement of ties in the field of health.

For his part, Prakash Nadda expounded on India’s capacity in the health sector and announced the country’s readiness to maintain and promote cooperation with Iran.

The two sides agreed to form a joint committee to follow up on the development of academic, medical, and pharmaceutical ties.

Also, Zafarqandi held meetings with his Russian, Brazilian, Chinese, South African, Egyptian, and Ethiopian counterparts, elaborating on the impacts of the US-Israeli war on the country’s civilian and health infrastructures, while discussing ways to enhance collaboration among the BRICS member states in the health sector.

The health minister also held a meeting with Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (ICRC).

During the meeting, Zafarqandi highlighted the recent war’s impacts on healthcare facilities and medical centers, stressing that attacks on health infrastructures have severely damaged the health system and medical staff.

Referring to the destruction of the Pasteur Institute of Iran, he warned about the consequences and health risks.

The official said that since the beginning of the imposed war against Iran on February 28, medical staff, in cooperation with the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), emergency teams, and firefighters, were among the first to be present in the fields to provide medical services.

Lauding the ICRC for dispatching aid consignments to the country, Zafarqandi called for expanding humanitarian cooperation.

For her part, Spoljaric Egger censured the attacks on civilian and medical infrastructures, while commending the unprecedented operational capabilities of the health ministry and the IRCS, noting that the ICRC has nothing to add to strengthen the high capacity of the two organizations.

The official noted that the ICRC is exploring new avenues to raise funds and receive contributions from international donor states to address humanitarian needs.

WHA79 is bringing together delegations from WHO Member States to set global health policy and advance the Organization’s strategic priorities.

It is built upon the momentum of last year’s 78th World Health Assembly, which adopted the Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health, an updated road map for an enhanced global response to the adverse health effects of air pollution, and the elevation of climate change as the first strategic objective of WHO’s Fourteenth General Program of Work.

This year’s Assembly theme is “Reshaping Global Health: A Shared Responsibility”. The key discussions cover Global Health Architecture Reform, Universal Health Coverage and Traditional Medicine, prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance, health emergency preparedness and response, mental health and social connection, health, and climate change.

Strategic Roundtables bring together delegates, experts from WHO, partner agencies, and civil society to discuss current priorities and next solutions on vital issues for global public health.

The 79th WHA marks over six years since the WHO declared COVID-19 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), and a decade since the establishment of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme.

This Roundtable provides a timely opportunity to take stock of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and how they have been translated into broader institutional reforms and commitments across the WHO.

The Strategic Roundtable will examine how countries can strengthen integrated responses to NCDs and mental health conditions, which are increasingly shaped by shared social, commercial, environmental, and demographic factors.

The Roundtable aims to identify practical policy and financing solutions, reinforce political commitment, and promote more resilient, people-centred health systems that advance equity and universal health coverage.

The health minister plans to deliver a speech and hold meetings with WHO officials and his counterparts from other countries.

Following up on technical and specialized collaborations, expanding health diplomacy, and exploring ways to boost cooperation to improve health indicators are among the main objectives of the trip.

In 2025, the health ministry said it was following up on establishing a joint insurance system with neighboring countries, as well as organizations such as the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and BRICS, to facilitate the treatment of foreign patients in the country.

There are international and health tourism insurances, but an acceptable insurance to be used by tourists in Iran is one of the main challenges in the health tourism sector, IRNA quoted Sajad Razavi, an official with the health ministry, as saying.

Since the country is not working directly with these organizations due to sanctions, insurance issued in the country is not accepted overseas, and international insurances are not accepted by medical centers in Iran, he added.

“We want the patients to be able to pay for their health costs using an international card or using an insurance that is reliable in the region. Therefore, the issue of creating a joint insurance system with neighboring countries or member states of organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), BRICS, and ECO has been raised in the ECO meeting held in Hamedan to define a framework for that,” Razavi noted.

Now Iran is pursuing the issue to help health tourists cover their health expenditures, it will not be an easy task to do, though, he said.

MT/MG