Activity of Over 2,500 NGOs in the Health Sector of Iran
The Director General of NGOs and Health Benefactors at the Ministry of Health announced the establishment of a National Advisory Committee for Social Participation in the Health Sector, stating that the committee aims to institutionalize specialized, regulated, and science-based management while leveraging regional advantages, utilizing the scientific capacities of elites, and drawing on the experiences of experts in the field of social participation from universities and medical schools.
Activity of Over 2,500 NGOs in the Health Sector
According to Salamat News, quoting ISNA, Engineer Mohammad Javad Heydari Pour, the Director General of NGOs and Health Benefactors at the Ministry of Health, referred to National NGO Day and Social Participation, stating that one of the indicators of developed societies is the level of public participation and the presence of NGOs, and sustainable development is impossible without their involvement.
He added that undoubtedly, health and addressing the related social harms require serious participation from the public and NGOs so that together with the government, they can enhance the health system and prevent and mitigate social harms.
Heydari Pour believes that August 22 each year is National NGO Day and Social Participation, aimed at inspiring people to engage more with these organizations, encouraging better interactions between NGOs, the public sector, and the private sector, and as a small step toward recognizing the efforts and achievements of active NGOs in the country.
The Director General of NGOs and Health Benefactors provided a report on some of the activities carried out by these organizations in 2023, stating that according to the final results of the database compilation of NGOs in the health sector, a total of 2,632 organizations (including branches) are currently active across the country.
He noted that of these, approximately 1,938 organizations are involved in education, 1,592 in prevention, 986 in rehabilitation, 844 in equipment provision, 406 in construction projects, 1,561 in treatment support services, 1,460 in pharmaceutical support services, 1,480 in financial support services, and 440 in accommodation support services.
According to Heydari Pour, 470 organizations are focused on cancer and other chronic and specific diseases, 330 on social harms, 114 on addiction, and 143 on mental and physical disabilities (congenital and accident-related).
The Director General of NGOs and Health Benefactors also reported that based on the updated database, 87.23% of 619 public hospitals, and charitable institutions have been established or are in the process of establishment.
He continued by presenting statistics on the contributions of health benefactors, noting that the monetary value of the contributions from NGOs in the health sector in 2023 exceeded 1,130 billion tomans, while the monetary value of contributions from hospital charitable institutions during the same year amounted to 453 billion tomans.
Engineer Heydari Pour emphasized that to enhance the quality and increase the quantity of services provided by NGOs in the health sector, as well as to improve public participation in health and enhance the communication between universities and NGOs, this department has conducted 10,340 person-hours of training workshops for board members of NGOs in 2023.
The Director General of NGOs and Health Benefactors stated that the National Advisory Committee for Social Participation in the Health Sector has been established, aiming to institutionalize specialized, regulated, and science-based management while taking advantage of regional strengths and benefiting from the scientific expertise of elites and the experiences of experts in social participation from universities and medical schools.
He also mentioned that the General Directorate of NGOs and Health Benefactors has reviewed the establishment requests of 31 NGOs focused on health and treatment matters in accordance with the executive regulations for establishing and operating NGOs in 2023, providing their specialized opinion to the licensing authority.
According to the Ministry of Health, Heydari Pour mentioned the issuance of a directive for ranking and evaluating health NGOs to universities and medical schools, stating that this directive was issued for the purpose of ranking the activities of health NGOs in 2021.
He noted that the ranking of these institutions is conducted annually based on the evaluation of over 3,000 health NGOs by the headquarters and universities and medical schools in the country, and in 2023, 1,092 NGOs were evaluated and ranked.
