Tenfold Increase in Migration Requests from Iran's Healthcare Workers in Five Years; A 'Foreshock' of a Devastating Earthquake

The spokesperson for the Iranian Medical Council states that requests for migration from healthcare workers have increased tenfold in the past five years. Reza Lari-Pour wrote on social media platform X that the increase in migration requests from specialists, those with subspecialties and fellowships has been more than eightfold, dentists fivefold, and pharmacists threefold. He also added that migration requests from midwives and paramedics have increased more than tenfold. The spokesperson of the Medical Council mentioned that strategies for 'attracting elites' and 'utilizing the capacities of the deserving' have been communicated in multiple letters to 'various authorities' and that 'changing the perspective in health governance' is the most important of these strategies. Mahdiar Saidiyaan, a physician and editor of the medical monthly Danestaniha, responded to Lari-Pour, stating: 'The political spectrum governing the Medical Council is aligned with the government, and the Medical Council must interact with active professional forces.' Previously, Mohammad Raiszadeh, the head of the Medical Council, expressed concern that individuals who are 'not inclined to migrate' are being forced to do so due to 'lack of working conditions' and that this issue must be addressed. He also stated that he is reluctant to announce the numbers regarding the migration of physicians because it could be 'misused.' Mohammad Mirkhani, a physician, wrote on his personal account on X: 'What we are seeing today regarding the migration of healthcare workers is a foreshock of the main devastating earthquake of the exit and migration of healthcare personnel from the healthcare system.' The newspaper 'Donya-e-Eqtesad' reported on May 13 that the number of doctors and nurses who left Iran last year exceeded 10,000, and over the past four years, 16,000 general practitioners have migrated from Iran. The alarm for mass migration of Iran's healthcare workers has been sounded for a long time, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, which placed additional pressure on them; however, officials of the Islamic Republic are attempting to deny this issue. Bahram Einollahi, the Minister of Health in Ebrahim Raisi's government, claimed last December that if someone from the medical community migrates, they will not be employed in Europe, America, and Canada unless they do 'other work.' Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, described the increase in healthcare worker migration as 'psychological warfare and negative propaganda,' asserting that 'our medical advancements are unparalleled, and all equations have reversed.' He also dismissed the notion that Iran might need doctors from neighboring countries, including Pakistan and India, and claimed that the trend of people traveling abroad for treatment belongs to the past. In August of this year, statements by Behnam Abasian, a member of the Supreme Medical Council, regarding the potential use of dentists from Afghanistan and Pakistan in the country received widespread attention. He noted that the salaries of dentists in deprived areas of Iran are about 12 million tomans per month and stated that in the not-too-distant future, we must look towards other countries and neighbors for Afghan and Pakistani doctors to come and work in Iran. Pouria Adeli, the secretary of the Drug and Medical Equipment Commission of the Medical Council, also reported an increase in medical travel for cancer patients to neighboring countries, especially Turkey, stating that with the rise in the number of migrating doctors, the country's capacity to treat certain diseases is decreasing. The new medical tariffs in Iran have also exacerbated the issue of physician migration, leading to widespread criticism from doctors and warnings about the collapse of the health system in the country. The new tariffs set the consultation fee for general practitioners at 90,000 tomans, specialists at 135,000 tomans, and subspecialists at 172,000 tomans. In response to the new tariffs, Iraj Khosrounia, the head of the Society of Internal Medicine Specialists, compared Iran with several neighboring countries, stating: 'A subspecialist doctor in Iran earns 3 dollars for a consultation, while in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria, a doctor's income exceeds 10 dollars.' Voice of America spoke with several young doctors who recently migrated from Iran to discuss some of the reasons behind the migration of Iran's healthcare workers. In this report, a female doctor who migrated to the UK stated that many medical specialties have become 'exclusive' and 'mafia-like,' making it difficult for a young specialist to enter the job market in that field due to 'ethical challenges.' An orthopedic resident who was a general practitioner in Iran and recently migrated explained to Voice of America that the 'inhuman' workload and 'meager' salaries, along with the regime's negative propaganda that has created a sense of distrust among the general public, have made the situation untenable for him and many others. Another issue in Iran's health system is the infiltration of a current of 'pseudoscience' under titles such as 'traditional medicine' and 'Islamic medicine,' which intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic and has found its way into some universities; this has created additional barriers for specialists and healthcare workers in Iran. The spokesperson for the Medical Council stated that 'a can of tuna' is more expensive than a doctor's consultation. Healthcare workers continue to face violence; a nurse was assaulted in Yasouj. Reactions continue regarding the case of a 6-month-old infant's death at Mofid Hospital. A new layer of the treatment crisis in Iran has emerged; profiting from patient information. The head of the Medical Council warned that accepting a pediatric heart surgeon with a high school diploma is not a solution. The secretary-general of the Nursing House stated that patients are dying due to a shortage of nurses. A research report confirms the increase in the trend of physician migration from Iran. The doctor shortage crisis in Iran; Raisi tells migrating doctors: there is an opportunity to have a 'dignified job.'