| Being the second-largest country in the Middle East, Iran has a long history of civilisation during which several
dynasties have been overthrown and established and health-related structures have been reorganised. Iran has had the
replacement of traditional practices with modern medical treatments, emergence of multiple pioneer scientists and
physicians with great contributions to the advancement of science, environmental and ecological changes in addition
to large-scale natural disasters, epidemics of multiple communicable diseases, and the shift towards non-communicable
diseases in recent decades. Given the lessons learnt from political instabilities in the past centuries and the approaches
undertaken to overcome health challenges at the time, Iran has emerged as it is today. Iran is now a country with a
population exceeding 80 million, mainly inhabiting urban regions, and has an increasing burden of non-communicable
diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, malignancies, mental disorders, substance abuse,
and road injuries. |