Iran

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 2023 in Iran

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2023.

116

STAFF IN 2023 (FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT)

€4.4 M

4.4M

EXPENDITURE IN 2023

1990

199

YEAR MSF FIRST WORKED IN THE COUNTRY

MSF IN IRAN IN 2023 In Iran, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) assists Afghan refugees, people who use drugs, people who engage in sex work, people who are homeless, and other marginalised groups who often face barriers when seeking healthcare.

Iran currently hosts the second-largest refugee population in the world, the majority of whom come from Afghanistan.* Approximately 750,000 Afghan refugees are officially registered in Iran, but according to a 2022 government-led headcount, there are at least 2.6 million living in the country, mostly undocumented.**

Although most of them live in urban settings, refugees experience difficulties in accessing medical services due to stigma and exclusion. They, and other marginalised groups, such as people who are homeless and people who use drugs, are especially susceptible to contracting communicable diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis C, HIV, and illnesses linked to poor living conditions.

In South Tehran, we run a range of medical services through a health facility located in the Darvazeh Ghar neighbourhood and through mobile clinics. Our teams offer general healthcare, nursing care, mental health support, and treatment and referrals for hepatitis C and B, HIV, syphilis, and TB. We also provide midwifery services, and ante- and postnatal care.

In Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, located near the border with Afghanistan, we continue to run mobile clinics, conducting medical consultations and screening for infectious diseases. We also provide 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.

In addition, we offer mental health support and treatment for hepatitis C to people who use drugs in rehabilitation centres in Torbat-e Jam’s ‘Guest City’, a government-run refugee settlement in Razavi Khorasan province.

Further south, in Kerman city, we are rehabilitating three health facilities, where we plan to run basic healthcare services for newly arrived and unregistered Afghan refugees.

*https://www.unhcr.org/ir/2023/06/14/iran-becomes-the-second-largest-refugee-hosting-country-as-forced-displacement-hits-new-record-high-globally/
**https://www.unhcr.org/ir/refugees-in-iran/

IN 2023

65,200

65,2

OUTPATIENT CONSULTATIONS

6,430

6,43

INDIVIDUAL MENTAL HEALTH CONSULTATIONS

430

43

PEOPLE STARTED ON TREATMENT FOR HEPATITIS C

Filter Tips

Try a different country, year, format, or topic.
Clear one or more filters