In the backdrop of the challenging life faced by Iran’s medical professionals, including doctors and nurses grappling with persistent economic struggles, the announcement from Mohammad Raiszadeh, the head of Iran’s Medical Council, takes on added significance.
Despite the impending 20% maximum salary increase for Iranian workers, employees, and retirees in 2024, the medical community continues to endure hardships. Raiszadeh’s revelation of a substantial 46% increase in the tariff for medical services by the Supreme Council of Insurance reflects the complex and demanding circumstances faced by healthcare professionals in the country.
Raiszadeh, while urging the government to endorse this medical tariff hike, highlighted the additional strain placed on the Iranian medical community due to the existing rates. This is notable, despite the tariff for diagnostic and treatment services having increased by 25% in 2023 and 19.5% the year before.
Iran’s healthcare sector has grappled with numerous economic challenges in recent years, leading to increased protests, union sit-ins, the depletion of experienced medical staff from many hospitals, and a rise in the emigration of doctors and healthcare professionals from Iran.
Simultaneously, the substantial growth of poverty in Iran and the persistent rise in the inflation rate—often three to four times higher than the percentage of salary increases for workers and retirees—have left a significant portion of Iran’s population unable to afford necessary medical treatments.
For instance, in September 2023, the chairman of the board of directors of the Iranian dental society reported a ‘triple increase in tooth decay in Iranians due to the spread of poverty.’ He highlighted that a considerable percentage of the population only seeks dental care when forced to, as they cannot afford it until their toothache becomes unbearable.
Now, the head of the Medical Council of Iran expresses the medical community’s expectation that the Board of Ministers and the Plan and Budget Organization will not reduce the budget following the Supreme Council of Insurance’s approval. He emphasizes that a reduction in medical tariffs ‘puts additional pressure on the medical community.’
In a council meeting, the future tariff rates for 2024 were approved by the majority, ensuring a 46% increase in the tariff for diagnostic and therapeutic services ‘for all providers’ in the coming year.
Additionally, the report indicates that in the event of the release of the preferential exchange rate for medical services (excluding medicine), the rates for medical consumables and diagnostic and therapeutic services will undergo a review, potentially leading to an increase in the prices of these items.
Protests in December and January saw thousands of doctors and nurses from universities and government hospitals across Iran rallying to address livelihood problems and the non-payment of arrears, expressing their grievances.
In recent months, heads of major hospitals in Iran and the Chairman of the Health Commission of the regime’s parliament have issued warnings regarding the widespread and rapid migration of specialist doctors and nurses from Iran, along with the departure of medical professionals from government medical centers.
The Secretary General of Iran’s Nurse House has recently pointed to a shortage of at least 70,000 nurses in Iran’s hospitals and medical centers, attributing the ‘nurse shortage’ and ‘health crisis’ to the actions of the regime.
