Iranian health minister first Iranian official visiting Egypt since Mubarak’s fall

TEHRAN, Feb. 25 (MNA) – The health minister become the first Iranian official to visit Egypt since the start of its revolution on January 25, 2011. Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi visited Cairo on February 22 to meet with Ala Alwan, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, to sign a Joint Program Planning and Review Mission report between Iran and the WHO, the official website of the WHO organization in Tehran reported. The report identifies priorities for collaboration in health between Iran and the WHO throughout 2012–2013. “The signing crowns extensive meetings between the WHO and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during which we reviewed existing collaboration and discussed priorities that need to be focused upon this year and next,” said Alwan. “The report represents a road map for the WHO’s work in and with the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of the Eastern Mediterranean Region." During the meeting, the two representatives discussed ways to enhance regional cooperation in the field of health. The Iranian delegation talked of how Iran could share its expertise in the health sector with other countries in the region. Vahid-Dastjerdi said, “We are strengthening our collaboration with the WHO Regional Office in health development inside Iran and in the region including our collaboration with neighboring countries in various fields.”