Tehran, Oct 16, IRNA - Deputy Health Minister Ali Reza Raiesi said on Wednesday that many countries participating in the sixty-sixth meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Health Ministers called the Iranian health teams to be dispatched to their countries so they can become more familiar with the achievements of the Iranian health sector.

According to the Ministry of Health, Ali Reza Raiesi at the sixty-sixth meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Health Ministers, which is underway at Parsian Azadi Hotel, stated that this summit in Iran is a great success in the field of health diplomacy, even in the face of all-out sanctions. The summit is one of the largest events in the field of health in the world hosted by Iran in presence of ministers and delegations from 22 countries.

The official stated that given Iran's privileged position in the region and when our country has been under the most severe cruel sanctions imposed by global arrogance, the active presence of these 22 countries demonstrates Iran's successful health diplomacy and prominence at this summit.

The presence of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran was very important for the opening of the summit, said the deputy health minister. The presence of the Secretary-General of the World Health Organization and the Director of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Bureau, along with the presence of ministers and health experts from other countries in Iran, is a great opportunity to transfer both Iran's experiences and achievements to other countries and to benefit from the experience of other countries.

He highlighted that considering the topics selected for the summit, very important issues such as primary healthcare, family medicine, tobacco control, drugs and vaccines and communicable diseases are one of the problems of neighboring countries and the discussion of non-communicable diseases is of great importance.

Raeesi said that the description made by the Secretary-General of the World Health Organization on Iran as a leading country in the sector was significant. He advised all countries in the region to use the Iranian model.

"We have a lot of bilateral issues, especially with Afghanistan and Pakistan, about some of the communicable diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis and emerging diseases that are prevalent on some of our borders," he said. These visits were very important for the bilateral cooperation with these countries to control these diseases.

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