Select Public Health Policies in Iran: Recommendations for Action

For a decade, the Iranian population growth rate has remained constant at around 1.3 percent. To address this issue, the Iranian government has terminated the national family planning program and removed all of the information about birth control methods from school education, media, and government websites. Moreover, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) has implemented a program, entitled “Reproductive Health,” with the aim of increasing the fertility rate to at least 2.1 percent. Accordingly, women of reproductive age with fewer than three children are found and encouraged to deliver at least three children. MOHME has also restricted providing permanent sterilization services to the community by new regulations, and banned advertisement of family planning in health clinics. These policies potentially have significant negative consequences on public health in Iran. Therefore, we provide a set of recommendations from health policy and public health points of view. This includes improving maternal and child health, prevention of non-communicable diseases, traffic injury prevention, and strengthening elderly health care.