Chiwenga meets Iranian medical specialists

A team of 11 Iranian medical experts is in Zimbabwe and for the next two weeks will be in Bulawayo working as specialists in the first fruits of a medical collaboration deal between the two countries.

Accompanied by Iranian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Abbas Navazani, the visiting delegation yesterday paid a courtesy call on Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Constantino Chiwenga and there was also a discussion on areas in which the two countries can further collaborate.

Zimbabwe is primarily interested in tapping into Iran's success in the manufacturing of medical drugs and related consumables which has seen Iran manufacturing up to 95 percent of all its medical requirements.

In his remarks to the visiting experts, VP Chiwenga said Zimbabwe has a lot to gain from the collaboration.

"This marks the beginning of a great friendship between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Zimbabwe where our nations initially agreed upon partnerships in health policy and health systems management at all levels."

Among other things, he noted that the two had agreed on: exchanging, dissemination and sharing information on health issues in areas of common interest; creating partnerships between health institutions and organisations; undertaking bio-medical and health systems research; sharing experiences in health sector reforms including decentralisation of services and coordination of donors and non-governmental organisations: undertaking appraisal, evaluation and benchmarking missions to study, analyse and identify health programme; and devising and advocating effective mechanisms for prevention and fight against epidemics, pandemics and various illnesses notably malaria and tuberculosis amid the general population and migrants.

Ambassador Navazani said Zimbabwe and Iran had a lot in common including the shared vision to succeed in the face of economic sanctions imposed on them by the United States of America and other Western countries.

In Iran's case, the sanctions have been in place for over four decades.

"Today I am proud that a delegation of doctors headed by Dr Seyed Nasser Emadi from Iran who have come as a result of the bilateral relations that exist between our two nations, and we hope this will further strengthen the mutual relations between our two countries," said Ambassador Navanzi

"It is on the basis of this long standing friendship that we have this delegation of a medical team in the country to further strengthen the cordial relations, especially with the cruel sanctions imposed by the USA and some western countries. As you know, both countries are under the cruel sanctions of the US and some western countries.

"They were (efforts) to stop us from receiving essential medicines from overseas, that is why we are relying on local production. We produce 95 percent of essential medicine in Iran and we are manufacturing a variety of medical equipment," he said.

Leader of the team of doctors, Dr Emadi, said in addition to the two weeks they will spend assisting local patients, they will also collaborate and share experiences with local medical experts.