April 1st (12th of Farvardin) has been designated as World Health Day. Health refers to a set of programs and actions that, when followed, promote the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of humans, and proper implementation of which ultimately leads to the health of a society.

In developed countries, health is one of the fundamental pillars and rights of individuals in society. Governments consider themselves obligated to implement it and strive every day to make it more accessible for their citizens.

For a thorough examination of health in Iran, it is best for experts in this field to give their opinions as it is a very important, crucial, and specialized subject. However, reporting on its status is the responsibility of journalists and reporters who also have a direct connection to it.

Due to the vastness of mental health in the field of health, we will not discuss it in this writing and only try to examine the physical health and well-being as much as possible.

Unfortunately, physical health and well-being in Iran is not in a good and standard condition. The number of hospitals and specialized medical centers in the country is low compared to the population of Iran, which is gradually reaching 90 million. This, along with a large number of patients who are affected by various factors such as water, weather, and culture, has caused the situation to, according to experts, go beyond crisis levels.

The most important issue is the abnormal situation of “health insurance” which has reached the brink of bankruptcy due to lack of capital in these institutions and “occasional embezzlements” and has resulted in minimal services being provided to poor and vulnerable citizens in terms of material damage.

Unfortunately, this one major problem has caused vulnerable segments of society – which, unfortunately, make up a large majority – to be unable to address their medical issues due to financial constraints. This in turn leads to a significant portion of the community being at risk of severe dangers to their health.

The clearest example of these problems in Iran is “dentistry” and its exorbitant and staggering costs, to the point that today, in an optimistic scenario, repairing and treating two teeth is equivalent to one month’s minimum wage set by the Ministry of Labor, and in many cases, even more than that.

For this reason, “dental health” has become one of the unresolved problems for Iranians today. Many do not have proper financial means, insurance does not cover necessary expenses, and as a result, the majority of Iranians unfortunately do not have healthy teeth. In many cases, dental hygiene has gone beyond crisis and reached the brink of disaster.

Although in some dental schools, clinics have been established to provide care for patients in need, and students in this field work diligently alongside their professors to treat impoverished and underprivileged patients and gain experience, in reality they are still unable to meet the needs of a large number of patients. Furthermore, the low costs of these centers are still too heavy and unaffordable for many citizens.

On the other hand, unfortunately, there is no supervision over dental fees in the non-insured space and some dentists in their clinics charge whatever price they want for their expertise. What’s even more interesting is that they don’t even use card machines in their clinics and receive their treatment fees in cash, which can sometimes reach millions, in order to easily avoid paying taxes.

Of course, these problems and challenges are not only limited to the field of dentistry, but are also clearly seen in other areas of medicine.

The main reason for these problems is the lack and shortage of modern and advanced specialized centers, as well as the shortage of skilled personnel. In addition, the lack of complete insurance coverage for the majority of citizens is another reason why physical health is a missing link in most Iranian households and causes a lot of suffering and difficulties for them.

Furthermore, the lack of strict supervision by government institutions, especially the state, over medical institutions, and overall shortage in software and hardware areas has caused many private centers to relieve themselves of the burden of serving the general public and, in simpler terms, to turn a blind eye. At the very least, government oversight of these centers and mandating them to address the situation of patients at government-set rates for at least one day a week can alleviate a significant percentage of problems for patients.

To obtain and prove the abnormal medical condition of Iranians, it is sufficient to randomly visit government centers and hospitals in large and small cities and take a look at them.

Unfortunately, as long as regulatory bodies, especially the government, continue to neglect their responsibilities and fail to invest in the construction of new medical centers without proper supervision, the physical health situation of Iranians will remain in this critical state. With the increasing population, it will only become more critical.

Health is of great importance in today’s world and governments in all countries make great efforts to provide more services to citizens, as physical health will also lead to an increase in mental health in society.

We hope that experts in this field will take action and, in addition to practical measures, put pen to paper and provide more accurate statistics on this very important issue for the citizens. By examining and presenting accurate statistics and effective solutions regarding the shortage of health facilities, they can pave the way for reducing the crisis.