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MSF provides free healthcare to excluded and marginalised people in south Tehran, including drug users, sex workers, street children, the Ghorbat ethnic minority and Afghan refugees in eastern Iran.

In Darvazeh Ghar district, we run a clinic offering a comprehensive package of medical services designed for high-risk patients who suffer from stigma and/or need help to follow their treatment.

Services include counselling and support from peer workers, psychosocial aid, medical and mental health consultations, ante- and postnatal care, family planning and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Patients can also be tested for communicable diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C

We also operate a referral system, and run mobile clinics in partnership with a local organisation called Society for Recovery Support.  

In Mashhad, in the eastern part of the country, we provide primary healthcare and mental health services to Afghan refugees who fled the decades-long conflict in their homeland and are largely excluded from access to medical care. 

Our activities in 2022 in Iran

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2022.

MSF in Iran in 2022 In Iran, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs programmes to assist Afghan refugees, drug users, sex workers, people who are homeless, and other marginalised groups who experience barriers when seeking healthcare.
Iran IAR map 2022

These communities face a significant risk of contracting certain diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis C, HIV, and illnesses linked to poor living conditions, yet are unable to access services due to stigma and exclusion.

In 2022, MSF continued to provide comprehensive healthcare to these communities, especially for the growing number of Afghans who have arrived in the country. Officially, Iran hosts 800,000, but it is estimated that an additional 2.7 million Afghans are living there, mostly undocumented,* with around one million having fled across the border since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.

In South Tehran, we ran a range of medical services through a health facility located in the Darvazeh Ghar neighbourhood, as well as mobile clinics. Our teams offered general healthcare, nursing care, mental health support, screening and testing for COVID-19, and treatment and referral for hepatitis C and B, HIV, syphilis and TB. We also provided midwifery and ante- and postnatal care.

In Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city, located near the border with Afghanistan, we continued to offer medical consultations and screening for infectious diseases. We also provided counselling, social support, health education and referrals to specialist health facilities through our clinic in Golshahr district, where most of the Afghans in the city have settled.  

We provided treatment for hepatitis C to drug users in rehabilitation centres, and strengthened our mental health services by sending a psychologist to conduct consultations in Torbat-e Jam’s “guest city”, a government-run refugee settlement in Razavi Khorasan province.

In December, we launched new activities, including general healthcare and rehabilitation of facilities that we work in, through three healthcare centres in Kerman city, aimed at filling gaps in services for the estimated 400,000 newly arrived and unregistered Afghan refugees.

 

*UNHCR: https://www.unhcr.org/ir/refugees-in-iran/
 

In 2022
 
Coronavirus: MSF intervenes in Iran
Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

MSF “deeply surprised” that Iranian authorities put a stop to our COVID-19 response

Press Release 25 Mar 2020
 
MSF provides support with response in second worst affected province in Iran
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MSF sends hospital and medical team to treat COVID-19 patients in Iran

Project Update 22 Mar 2020
 
MSF activities in South Teheran
Iran

After a cold night on the streets, a warm reception

Voices from the Field 6 Nov 2019
 
After the floods in Iran, providing health care to the vulnerable populations in Lorestan
Iran

Providing health care to vulnerable people in Lorestan after floods in Iran

Project Update 6 Jun 2019
 
Flood flashes in Iran
Iran

Flash floods in Iran wash away homes, roads and livelihoods

Voices from the Field 29 Apr 2019
 
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Project Update 26 Aug 2015