By STELLA DANKER
September 21, 1999

health revolution in Iran has dramatically reduced the number of women dying in childbirth, and also the number of babies and children who die. As families are assured that their children will live, they do not feel the need to have too many children.

The crude birth rate fell from 38 per thousand in 1984 to 17.7 in 1997. The population grew by just 1.4 percent that year compared to 3.2 percent in 1984. More people are using modern contraceptives. In addition, more than half of all mothers now breast feed their babies exclusively in the first six months and this has helped also in preventing pregnancies.

The architect of Iran's health program first as its Deputy Minister of Health in 1983 and then Health Minister in 1985, Dr. Seyed Alireza Marandi, was awarded this year's United Nations Population Award. Gillian Sorensen, the UN's Assistant Secretary-General, presenting the award to Mr. Marandi on June 9, said: "Dr. Marandi is a rare individual who almost single-handedly transformed the population and reproductive health policies and programs of Iran."

She said he did it through childhood immunization; health education and services to reduce mortality and infectious diseases; and by dealing with fertility and population growth.

Speaking to The Earth Times after the award presentation at the UN headquarters, Dr. Marandi who is now a Professor at the Shahid Beheshty University, said his biggest challenge was that people felt that birth control was incompatible with Islam. "But religious leaders proved that this was not the case. Islam is a very progressive religion."

He said that today, more than 85 percent of all villagers have immediate access to and make use of primary health care.

Before Dr. Marandi took charge, 237 women out of 100,000 died in childbirth. In 1998, that number was down to 37.5. Child mortality fell from 173 to 33 per thousand live births, and infant mortality from 104 to 26 per thousand live births.

Nearly all infants are immunized today compared to less than 20 percent just sixteen years ago. The number of children under five dying from acute respiratory infection and diarrheal diseases, the biggest killers, fell from about 36,000 a year before 1983 to less than 3,000 in 1998. During one program in 1988, the Child Survival Campaign, some 500,000 teenagers knocked on the doors of 12 million families all across the country. They immunized all children under five against poliomyelitis in 12 hours.

Baby Friendly Hospitals encourage women to breast feed leading to healthier babies. The import of infant formula fell from 70 million cans a year to under 10 million in 1998. Before people get married, they attend pre-nuptial counselling which tells them about sexual health and family planning.

The country also dealt with the greatest cause of preventable brain damage in the fetus and infant - iodine deficiency . As many as 18 million people were at risk of iodine deficiency. In a seven-year period up to 1998, a vigorous public awareness campaign and requiring factories to add iodine to their salt have resulted in 95 percent of the population using iodine salt.

Adolescent and youth counselling centers have also been set up in schools to teach young people about reproductive health and family planning. The government is also working to add reproductive health and family planning subjects in the high school curriculum.

(c) Earth Times News Service

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