Islamic Republic of Iran – a surprisingly progressive centre of medical tourism
Authors:
Veronika Sobotková
Authors‘ workplace:
Katedra blízkovýchodních studií FF ZČU v Plzni
Published in:
Čas. Lék. čes. 2022; 161: 159-162
Category:
News
Overview
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a very progressive state in the field of medical research and its application. Although the country is fully subject to Islamic law (shari'a) and the influence of Shi'ite clerics, the development of medical science is not limited at all; Shi'ite medical ethics (unlike Sunnite) allows most of the modern medical techniques. Due to this attitude, Iran specializes today in many techniques that are prohibited in other countries for religious or ethical reasons. For example, Iranian research on cloning, cell and gene therapy reaches the world level, patients can use a third-party donor program and surrogacy for infertility treatment, the sale of kidney for transplantation was legalized, gender reassignment surgery is performed, and the country is a centre of cosmetic surgery. All of these services (excluding transplantation) are also offered to foreign patients. Thanks to these unlimited possibilities, high quality and low price, Iran has been currently gaining a strong position in the medical tourism market, not only in the Middle East region, but also worldwide.
Keywords:
Iran – Islam – medical tourism – Shi'ite Islam – Islamic bioethics
Sources
- Rokni L, Park SH. Medical tourism in Iran, reevaluation on the new trends: a narrative review. Iranian J Publ Health 2019; 48: 1191–1202.
- Half a million health tourists visited Iran last year. Financial Tribune, 2019. Dostupné na: https://financialtribune.com/articles/travel/100848
- Nezhad Fard RM, Moslemy M, Golshahi H. The history of modern biotechnology in Iran: a medical review. J Biotechnol Biomater 2014; 3: 159.
- Mahboudi F, Hamedifar H, Aghajani H. Medical biotechnology trends and achievements in Iran. Avicenna J Med Biotechnol 2012; 4: 200–205.
- Do Íránu přijelo více než 500 tisíc zahraničních zdravotních turistů. IRNA, 2018. Dostupné na: www.irna.ir/news/83559375
- Mustafa Y. Islam and the four principles of medical ethics. J Med Ethics 2014; 40: 479–483.
- Kazemijaliseh H, Ramezani Tehrani F, Behboudi-Gandevani S et al. The prevalence and causes of primary infertility in Iran: a population-based study. Glob J Health Sci 2015; 7: 226–232.
- Sobotková V. Neplodnost, asistované reprodukční technologie a islám. Nový Orient 2017; 72: 2–8.
- Kalantar Hormozi A, Maleki S, Rahimi A et al. Cosmetic surgery in Iran: sociodemographic characteristics of cosmetic surgery patients in a large clinical sample in Tehran. Am J Cosmetic Surg 2018; 35: 177–182.
- Ben-Ari S. The changing attitude of Islam toward cosmetic procedures and plastic surgery. Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung 2013; 66: 147–161.
- V zemi byly podniknuty první kroky v oblasti genové terapie. IRNA, 2017. Dostupné na: www.irna.ir/news/83234845
- Celltherapy Center. Royan Institute, 2022. Dostupné na: www.royan.org/en/Page/11/Celltherapy-Center
- Ghods AJ, Savaj S. Iranian model of paid and regulated living-unrelated kidney donation. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2006; 1: 1136–1145.
- Sobotková V. Boundaries of life and death from the viewpoint of Shi'i Islamic jurisprudence and the consequences in the field of Islamic bioethics. Religio 2019; 27: 269–290.
- Kiani M, Abbasi M, Ahmadi M, Salehi B. Organ transplantation in Iran; current state and challenges with a view on ethical consideration. J Clin Med 2018; 7: 45.
Labels
Addictology Allergology and clinical immunology Angiology Audiology Clinical biochemistry Dermatology & STDs Paediatric gastroenterology Paediatric surgery Paediatric cardiology Paediatric neurology Paediatric ENT Paediatric psychiatry Paediatric rheumatology Diabetology Pharmacy Vascular surgery Pain management Dental HygienistArticle was published in
Journal of Czech Physicians
2022 Issue 3-4
Most read in this issue
- Bartter and Gitelman syndromes
- Současná bariatrická/metabolická chirurgie
- Faecal microbiota transplantation in the treatment of recurrent intestinal Clostridioides difficile infection – a ten-year single-center experience
- Use of unmanned aerial systems in the health care