Précis:This debate article highlights some charac-teristics, progresses and challenges of the Iranian health system. Integration of medical education and health service provision, con-trol of some important communicable and non-communicable disease, some health ini-tiatives and health financing system have been discussed from the viewpoint of ex-managers of the system.

Lencucha and Thow have highlighted the way in which neo-liberalism is enshrined within institutional mechanisms and conditions the policy environment to shape public policy on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). They critique the strong (but important) focus of public health policy research on corporate interests and influence over NCD policy, and point toward neo-liberal...

Progress in controlling communicable diseases increases the relative importance of noncommunicable diseases, including genetic disorders. In Iran, the development of primary health care over the past 20 years has greatly reduced infant mortality and crude birth rate. Accordingly, in 1991 prevention of non-communicable diseases was added to the primary healthcare programme, and a department for ...

Traditionally, biomedical research endeavors in low to middle resources countries have focused on communicable diseases. However, data collected over the past 20 years by the World Health Organization (WHO) show a significant increase in the number of people suffering from non-communicable diseases (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, cancer and pulmonary diseases). Within the coming years, WHO predi...