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Healthcare
As part of its mandate, IOM delivers and promotes comprehensive, preventive and curative health programmes for migrants and mobile populations, aiming to bridge the needs of both beneficiaries and IOM member states.
In Iran, IOM is actively supporting the national health sector to ensure that Afghans residing in Iran have access to primary healthcare, by providing essential health equipment and enhancing the infrastructure of healthcare facilities.
In addition to these efforts, IOM is also working to address one of the main barriers to accessing specialized healthcare for vulnerable Afghans – namely, the lack of insurance and the resulting high medical costs.
In Iran, holders of the Foreign Nationals Temporary Residence Card (Amayesh card) can access to health insurance, but many individuals are unable to access this service due to their undocumented status, which can prevent them from seeking medical attention when needed. Therefore, IOM is working to make sure that both Amayesh card holders and head-counted Afghans are enrolled to the health insurance scheme.
Finally, IOM works to enhance the safety and well-being of migrants, refugees, mobile populations, and local communities in several border provinces of Iran, where the risk of outbreaks of infectious diseases is higher due to population movements across its borders. In particular, IOM aims to support the Government of Iran to prevent, respond, and control the spread of diseases connected to the high volume of population movements such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, cholera, measles, rubella, polio and tuberculosis.
- Objectives
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The main objective of IOM Health programmes is to guarantee the physical, mental and social well-being of migrants, enabling them and host communities to achieve social and economic development.
In Iran, IOM is helping to ensure that all members of the Afghans population residing in the country can access the healthcare they need, working so that all migrants and refugees are enrolled into the national health insurance scheme.
IOM also works to guarantee the availability of health infrastructures and equipment to vulnerable communities across the country and aims to enhance health safety mechanisms in border provinces.
- Areas of Intervention
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Provision of health equipment
In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, IOM carried out activities to strengthen the health sector's capacity to serve both Afghan nationals and host communities. Based on the inputs received from the Iranian counterparts, IOM decided to supply mobile units, instead of equipping existing health facilities, with the aim of enabling direct accessibility to scattered or hard-to-reach communities.
IOM supplied three health mobile units, which currently support a network of 20 health facilities to continue providing life-saving basic essential services' across various districts and areas.
Of the three health mobile units, two were allocated to the Ministry of Health to enhance medical reach in the Sistan and Baluchestan province, which shares borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The third unit was donated to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, dedicated to serve the Taybad area near the Dogharon-Islam Qala border crossing with Afghanistan.
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Enrollment of beneficiaries in national health insurance scheme
In May 2023, IOM contributed to the enrolment in national health insurance scheme of 600 beneficiaries, by covering the costs of the insurance premium fee. To do so, IOM staff procured 1200 gift cards through which the beneficiaries could pay the insurance premium and assisted them through the enrollment process, addressing each family’s concern on a case- by- case basis.
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