The Parliament Granted Confidence to Saeed Namaki, Proposed Minister of Health

On Tuesday, February 4, representatives of the parliament voted to grant confidence to Saeed Namaki, the proposed Minister of Health, with 229 votes in favor, 25 against, 4 abstentions, and one invalid vote from a total of 259 present representatives. Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi, the former Minister of Health, resigned in December due to budget cuts to the health plan in the 2019 budget, which was one of the most important initiatives of Hassan Rouhani's government and was frequently promoted by him during the presidential elections. In the same parliamentary session, President Rouhani expressed hope that 'the name of Dr. Hashemi will always be remembered alongside the health transformation plan in the history of our country.' The Iranian President also stated that the new Minister of Health would implement the 'Electronic Health' plan in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. According to Rouhani, this plan will collect individuals' medical information on an electronic card, leading to 'savings in costs and combating the gangs that exist in some diagnostic centers, clinics, and offices.' He also mentioned that the implementation of this plan would reduce drug consumption. Rouhani accused some doctors of unnecessarily prescribing many medications for patients, stating that some prescriptions are merely for 'ornamentation.' This part of Rouhani's speech prompted a protest from Ali Nobakht, the head of the Health Commission in Parliament. Disagreements with Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the head of the Planning and Budget Organization, were cited as one of the reasons for Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi's resignation. Nobakht had previously criticized Hashemi's performance, stating that the Ministry of Health has tens of thousands of billions of tomans in debt. This discord was also raised in the speeches of representatives for and against Saeed Namaki. For instance, Hossein Maqsoudi, a representative from Sabzevar, questioned, 'Mr. Rouhani, who should resolve these disputes among ministers and cabinet members?' He attributed the Ministry of Health's 'several tens of thousands of billions of tomans in debt' to 'lack of planning and government weakness.' The impact of U.S. sanctions on drug supply was a topic raised by both supporters and opponents. Saeed Namaki, the proposed Minister of Health, announced one of his plans regarding drug supply as 'creating transparency' in the import of drugs and medical equipment without specifying a particular plan. According to Namaki, 97% of the medications consumed in Iran are produced domestically, and $550 million in currency is required for importing raw materials. He stated that for the remaining 3% of imported drugs, $1.4 billion is spent, which is three times the currency needed for importing raw materials for domestically produced drugs. Namaki indicated that he has ordered that this 3% of imported drugs gradually be produced in Iran. Namaki holds a PhD in medical immunology and is a faculty member at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. He served as the Deputy Minister of Health for Health Affairs nearly 28 years ago and has previously held positions such as Deputy for Scientific, Cultural, and Social Affairs at the Planning and Budget Organization and President of Kashan University from 1987 to 1991, as well as Deputy for Social Affairs at the Management Organization from 2015 to 2017.