The Message of H.E. Dr. Bahram Einollahi
Minister of Health and Medical Education,
To the International Congress on “PHC for Universal Health Coverage through Family Health Program and Electronic Referral System”
In the Name of Allah
The Family Health Program and Electronic Referral System (FHP) is a new comprehensive primary health care program, that has been designed and implemented to improve the health of families and communities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This program improves accessibility and focuses on providing comprehensive and coordinated care to families, addressing their physical, and mental health needs including preventive, curative, promotive, and palliative care at the lowest cost.
The main goal of this program is to promote a healthy lifestyle, prevent diseases, and ensure timely diagnosis and management of health conditions in a fair manner. The program also emphasizes the importance of family participation in healthcare decision-making.
This program is multidisciplinary and promotes collaboration between health care providers, mental health experts, nutrition, environmental and occupational health, oral and dental health, and physicians to meet the diverse needs of families. In general, the family health program, by providing accessible, comprehensive, and coordinated health services, plays an important role in promoting the health and well-being of families and communities and can lead to reducing the burden of risk factors and diseases.
This program strengthens the primary health care (PHC) system by providing integrated care. The relationship between PHC and the family health program is supportive. PHC provides the general framework for the provision of essential health care services, this program is an integral part of PHC and considering the same principles (intersectional coordination, comprehensiveness of promotional, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative services, people participation and self-reliance, using appropriate methods and technology, observing justice and equity ) to specifically address the comprehensive health needs of families and ensure the access of members of the community to essential health care.
The family health program and the electronic referral system place great emphasis on the role of people, improving community health literacy and people`s oversight on health system. People can play an active role in assessing community needs, education, and health promotion, giving support and awareness of local health priorities, and assisting health service provision as an active partner in maintaining and promoting health, creating effective public support networks, and sustainable interventions.
The relationship between the family health program and the social factors that determine health is knowledge, understanding, and action. In this program, the impact of social determinants on family health is emphasized and addressed, through joint efforts, supporting policies and a comprehensive approach to promote justice, therapeutic interventions, and community resources that support their health and well-being.
Undoubtedly, continuous monitoring and periodic evaluation are essential components of the family health program. Continuous monitoring and periodic evaluation by using a systematic approach to evaluate performance, measure implementation and impact, improve quality and ensure accountability in providing comprehensive health care services to families is an integral part of the success of the family health program and referral system.
At the end, I take this opportunity to emphasize on the commitment of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education on the implementation of the family health program and the electronic referral system. I thank and appreciate the scientific and executive committees, for organizing this large international conference.
Dr. Bahram Einollahi,
Minister of Health and Medical Education