TEHRAN – The head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Mehdi Pirsalehi, and the Belarusian ambassador to Iran, Dmitry Koltsov, have explored avenues to enhance ties in the health sector, particularly in supplying medicines and medical equipment, and expediting medical trade exchange.

The officials met in Tehran on Tuesday, during which Koltsov announced his country's willingness to facilitate the import of medicine and pharmaceutical raw materials from Iran, IRNA reported.

The Belarusian official stressed the importance of utilizing reliable banking mechanisms and formal trade channels to ensure the sustainability of the pharmaceutical supply chain needed by Belarusian citizens.

For his part, Pirsalehi highlighted the high capacity of the country in manufacturing high-quality medicines and medical devices, and called for the removal of potential impediments to the export of the vital commodities.

The two sides agreed to continue technical consultations to establish a proper platform for the entry of high-quality Iranian medical products into the Belarusian health product basket

Self-sufficiency in medicine, medical equipment

The issue of medicine and medical equipment production and self-sufficiency in these areas is one of the government’s priorities, Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarqandi has said.

Medicine and medical equipment are two important areas related to people’s health, he said, adding: “We are trying to reach self-sufficiency for the supply of medicine and medical equipment,” IRNA reported.

In 2025, the head of Iran’s Union of Medical Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters said that medical equipment worth around $20 million is exported to more than 60 countries annually.

More than 70 percent of medical equipment and 100 percent of normal hospital beds are domestically made, IRNA quoted Abdolreza Yaqoubzadeh as saying.

Also, over 95 percent of specific ICU and CCU beds and more than 85 percent of operating room medical equipment, such as anesthesia machines and other equipment, are manufactured with cutting-edge technology in the country, he added.

Yaqoubzadeh went on to say that the country’s need for medical equipment production is three to four billion dollars per year, some one billion dollars of which is imported.

Some 600 medical equipment companies are active in the country, producing around 99 percent of the medicine supplied to the domestic market.

Medical equipment manufacturers in the country produce and supply over 10,000 types of medical equipment to domestic and foreign markets. Now, various pieces of laboratory equipment are manufactured at prices much lower than the same foreign products.

MT/MG