MANPOWER FOR PRIMARY MEDICAL CARE IN IRAN

Abstract

Iran is a large country with a total area of 1,645,000 square kilometers. The country’s population is estimated at about 31 millions. There is an uneven distribution of the population, varying from 2 to 50 per square kilometer. Sixty per cent of the total population (18 millions) is living in nearly 66,000 small and large village’s scattered throughout the country. A total of 10,000 physicians provide the main source of medical manpower, however more than 40% of these physicians are located in the capital city of Teheran. The physician to population ratio for the country is about 1 per 3,000 and the figure reaches 100,000 in some rural areas. Each year a total of 600 graduates is added to the health manpower , but technical and socio-economic handicapping factors make the rural and low-income areas less attractive to the new graduates. In this paper the reconstruction of health services around the concept of Primary Medical Care has been reposed for the country’s health development. Taking into consideration the country’s special geographical and demographic features, two levels of primary care workers have been suggested; the first group with 4 year’s training in curative and preventive services, and the second group at grade 9 level in education. It is foreseen that the two afore-mentioned groups will form a network of auxiliaries to the physicians in extending health services to the remote areas of the country.