President Rouhani: Iran can turn into regional health hub

President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will gain self-sufficiency in meeting its needs to all the different types of vaccines and medicines in the near future, and said Iran can turn into a health and hygiene hub in the region. "In hygiene and treatment areas, we will gain self-sufficiency and will be needless (of foreign countries' assistance) in many fields, including vaccine and medication, in the next two to four years," Rouhani told reporters after holding a meeting with Iranian health minister and other officials and directors of the health ministry in Tehran on Monday. Stressing that Iran can admit university students from other regional nations, he said, "Iran can turn into a hub of health, hygiene and treatment in the region." President Rouhani also hailed the policies proclaimed by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in the field of health and hygiene, and described them as useful for the improvement of people's health conditions. Iran has taken wide strides in science and technology, particularly in medical and medicinal fields, in recent years. Earlier this year, Iranian Deputy Health Minister for Research and Technology Mostafa Qaneyee announced that Iran will start mass-production of 10 new home-made biomedicines in the next few years. “These 10 drugs include medicines to treat cancer, infertility, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, MS, Crohn's disease, gout, hemophilia and diabetic ulcers and have applications in healing wounds and burns and blood production,” Qaneyee said. “A number of the mentioned medicines have applications as multipurpose drugs for treating diseases like cancer, as well as (diseases caused during) chemotherapy stages and hepatitis C,” he added. “The industrial and semi-industrial stages of producing the mentioned drugs will be gradually completed between the next 2 to 3 years,” Qanayee underlined.