Influenza and COVID-19 Make Headlines Again; Health Ministry Issues New Warning

Deputy for Treatment at Iran University of Medical Sciences, pointing to the rise in respiratory virus transmission with the onset of the cold season and the new academic year, stressed the heightened risk of influenza and COVID-19 for the elderly, children, and people with underlying conditions, and called adherence to health recommendations essential.

According to Arjan's ambassador, Seyed Yaser Foroughi Qomi - Vice President of Medicine of Iran University of Medical Sciences, today, October 20, in a press conference, regarding the situation of influenza and common diseases of the cold season, stated: In general, regarding the viruses that are very common today, it should be said that we are facing a type of combined virus in the society, some of which are influenza. The tests for covid are also positive to some extent, which means that there is a type of covid in the society.

Ambassador Arjan wrote in a news: Regarding the increase in the number of influenza, he added: "Unfortunately, with the start of the school season, the spread of these viruses has increased, and now we can say that we are facing a kind of epidemic in the society." The virus I mentioned is sometimes identified as influenza in tests and sometimes as corona.

Referring to the symptoms of the corona virus, the vice-chancellor of Iran University of Medical Sciences said: The virus we are facing now is not the same as before, but in any case, the symptoms of the same covid that we faced before are still present in the society and are spreading. Based on this, the health recommendations that have been said and recommended many times should still be followed by the people, because this virus is spreading with great severity and there is a high number of people and compatriots being infected with this virus.

At the same time, Foroughi Qomi emphasized: There has not been a report that the covid virus is as aggressive as in the past. Either because of the previous infection with this virus or because of the vaccinations that have been done.

Emphasizing on compliance with health recommendations, he added on the need to pay more attention to high-risk groups against the influenza virus: Our recommendations are still valid for high-risk groups, these groups include those with immune system deficiencies, the elderly, and children. These recommendations are especially important for the influenza virus, as this virus has a higher lethality and peak prevalence. This disease can be as dangerous for patients and people who have an underlying disease.

Regarding the outpatient and inpatient visits in medical centers covered by Iran University of Medical Sciences, Foroughi pointed out: Iran University of Medical Sciences with the largest number of affiliated centers is one of the largest universities that covers a population of about 6 million people in Tehran province.

Emphasizing on the number of hospitals under the supervision of the University of Iran, he added: a total of 70 hospitals are under the supervision of the University of Iran, which includes 20 government hospitals and 50 private, charitable, non-governmental hospitals and other institutions.

Regarding the statistics of the hospitals under construction in this university, the Vice President of Medicine of Iran University of Medical Sciences said: The total number of approved hospital beds is about 13 thousand 85 beds, of which we have 11 thousand 74 active beds and we monitor these hospital beds. Other hospitals in Iran University of Medical Sciences are under construction, which can add a total of 3,268 hospital beds to our total. These 25 hospitals are being built in various fields, including public, non-governmental, private and charitable, and we have issued their approval in principle. These hospitals have different situations in terms of physical progress; From hospitals that have progressed 0% to hospitals that have progressed more than 97-98%. Two projects are on the verge of being put into operation, but due to the war conditions, their opening was somewhat delayed.

Pointing to the opening of the main burn accident center of Bab Al-Hawaij in Tehran and Iran Psychiatric Hospital, Foroughi emphasized: the project of Bab Al-Hawaij Ken Burn Accident Hospital is under construction with more than 98.8% progress and will be opened in the next few months at the latest.

He stated that the psychiatric hospital of Iran is also ready to open, and added: These two hospitals are government hospital projects. Burn patients and psychiatric patients are considered to be two groups that providing medical services to them is extremely harmful in terms of health economy, because the treatment of these patients requires special and dedicated facilities and both groups need special beds and special facilities. Even though the opening of these beds will not be economically profitable for the university, considering the university's governance duty and the felt need for burn and psychiatric beds in Tehran province, we started these two projects during the new management period.

Referring to the progress of these projects in the new management period, he said: At the beginning of this period, the progress of the projects was very small, but now their progress has reached more than 98%, and God willing, both projects will be opened before the end of the year.

In addition, he added about the regulatory challenges of Iran University of Medical Sciences due to the extent of the covered area and the number of private medical centers and clinics: referring to the volume of medical activities of the university in 1404, a total of 784,202 surgeries were performed in the hospitals covered by the university. Also, the number of hospitalized cases reached 851,838, and medical centers recorded 6,776,000 outpatient visits and 3,239,000 emergency visits.

He added: In the first five months of 1405, 307,553 surgeries were performed in university centers. In the same period of time, 336 thousand 430 hospitalizations, 3 million 76 thousand 280 outpatient visits and 152 thousand 998 emergency visits were recorded. These statistics show the extent and volume of activities of Iran University of Medical Sciences.

Referring to the change in the patient referral pattern this year, Foroughi Qomi said: In 1405, due to the relative increase in tariffs, we saw the transfer of referrals from private hospitals to government hospitals. The number of visits to public hospitals has increased by about 40%, and the number of visits to private hospitals has decreased by almost the same amount.

He considered the reason for this change to be mainly economic issues and the increase in tariffs and said: these conditions have naturally led people to visit government hospitals more.

The Vice President of Medicine of Iran University of Medical Sciences emphasized the importance of controlling out-of-pocket payments and stated: The main policy of the university's directorate and board of directors is that out-of-pocket payments, as a very important issue, is our red line. According to the statistics that the financial management of the university presents every month in the meetings of the board of directors, the payment from people's pockets in Iran University of Medical Sciences is less than 22%. The university continuously reviews this issue so as not to allow patients and clients to be referred outside the hospital for services.

He added: Without exaggeration, we do not have such a situation in the country's universities because we are sensitive to this issue and we do not allow such an incident to happen in government hospitals. This issue is one of our main policies in the current situation and I think this is the reason why people welcome public hospitals.

Referring to the number of private and charitable hospitals covered by the university, Foroughi Qomi said: In total, 50 private and charitable hospitals, including 38 private hospitals and a number of charitable and non-governmental hospitals, are covered by Iran University of Medical Sciences.

Referring to the increase in the revenues of the government sector following this change, the Vice President of Medicine of Iran University of Medical Sciences added: 90% of our revenues in this sector are insurance claims. Iran University of Medical Sciences currently owes more than 10 thousand billion tomans from social security and health insurance. We have to keep the services up to date and the payments to the suppliers of supplies and equipment as well as the payments related to health services have to be up to date.

Stating that the university's insurance claims have not been paid since November of last year, he said: these claims have reached an unprecedented high figure of 10 hemats.

The vice-chancellor of Iran University of Medical Sciences, emphasizing the necessity of continuing to provide services and timely payment of employees' salaries, said: the personnel payments have been up to date and I hope this trend will continue. However, the huge amount of insurance debt to the university has made financial management very complicated.

Referring to the number of nurses working in hospitals and the need for new centers, Foroughi Qomi said: Fortunately, with the orders received from the Program and Budget Organization in the last year, Iran University of Medical Sciences is not facing a serious problem of shortage of nurses. For the two mentioned hospitals, all the required ranks have been received and nurses have been recruited. Now many of the staff and nurses of these hospitals are working in other university hospitals to return to their place of service with the opening of new centers.

Referring to the recruitment process, Foroughi Qomi said: In the announced call and the held tests, about 50 to 60 percent of the needed nurses were recruited. A number of candidates did not meet the initial conditions in the subsequent tests. We will re-call for these people in the next stages so that we can use all the received capacities.

He continued: People who have not met the initial conditions will be able to participate in the recruitment process in the next stages. Therefore, according to the ranks we have, there is currently no serious problem of shortage of nurses in Iran University of Medical Sciences.

Also, in response to a reporter's question about the table and the amount of violations and supervisory measures of the university, he said: There are about 13,000 institutions under our category, which include medical offices, diagnostic and therapeutic institutions, private and public hospitals, imaging centers, dental centers and other institutions. Therefore, a large amount of centers are under the supervision of the university. In the field of supervision, more than 2,000 visits to offices, offices, clinics and dental centers have been made. Also, more than 3,000 administrative and supervisory measures have been taken, including issuing employment certificates, obtaining commitments, correspondence, written warnings, and measures related to the closure or temporary sealing of centers. More than 700 cases have been referred to legal authorities and more than 800 complaints have been investigated in this area.

Explaining the complaint handling mechanism, he said: We have a commission called the Article 11 Commission, which is formed monthly in the university and the complaints received from different systems are examined in it. The most important of these systems is the 190 system of the Ministry of Health. Complaints received from other regulatory organizations, as well as complaints that people directly submit to the university, are reviewed in the Article 11 Commission.

Referring to the number of reviewed cases, Foroughi Qomi stated: Every month, about 200 cases are reviewed in this commission, which are mainly related to tariffs; Of course, there are other violations. More than 25 cases are investigated per month and in more than 95% of these cases, violations are found. After the violation is confirmed, the cases are sent to the competent authorities, which are mainly the government penal organization, and the subsequent actions are taken by the judicial authorities.

Foroughi Qomi continued: Usually, cases related to tariffs and bribery, in addition to being sent to Tazirat, are also referred to the disciplinary court of the medical system, and the offending doctors are dealt with in this regard. These authorities also issue appropriate rulings in their disciplinary boards.

Separating financial violations from disciplinary violations, he said: the violation that is examined in the punishments is a financial violation related to a fine; However, a disciplinary violation is recorded in the doctor's records and the medical system organization is responsible for handling it.

Referring to the volume of monitoring activities and the relative lack of human resources in this field, the Vice President of Medicine of Iran University of Medical Sciences stated: The volume of monitoring activities requires the use of many forces and we are facing a shortage of forces to some extent. However, our monitoring colleagues visit centers and institutions almost every day, even on Thursdays and Fridays. Also, regarding all referred complaints, they attend in person, record violations and refer cases to relevant commissions and regulatory bodies.