20,000 foreign patients visit Iran for treatment annually

TEHRAN, Feb. 7 (MNA) – A Health Ministry official said about 20,000 foreign patients visit Iran every year for medical treatment. Dr. Mostafa Ghane’ei, the deputy health minister for research and technological affairs, told on Monday that before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 Iranians were forced to see Indian doctors and some patients were sent abroad for treatment, “but now 20,000 foreign patients come to Iran for treatment.” Ghane’ei also said now highly complicated surgeries are conducted in Iran. For example heart, kidney, liver, lungs, and cornea transplants are done with great success in the Islamic Republic, meaning that Iran ranks first among regional countries in terms of transplants, he added.