Iran
In Iran, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs programmes to assist marginalised groups who often face barriers when seeking healthcare, including refugees, migrants, people who engage in sex work, and people who use drugs.
Our activities in 2024 —
outpatient consultations
individual mental health consultations
people started on hepatitis C treatment
The UNHCR estimates that there are around 4.5 million displaced people of varying statuses in Iran.
Among them are 2.6 million Afghans, of whom only 750,000 are officially registered as refugees. Although most of them live in urban settings, refugees and migrants experience difficulties in accessing medical services due to stigma and exclusion.
In South Tehran, we run a project offering hepatitis C testing and treatment in a drug rehabilitation camp for men. We also provide basic healthcare for Afghan women, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health, through a facility in the Darvazeh Ghar neighbourhood and mobile clinics. Our other activities include nursing care, mental health and social support, and referrals for specialist healthcare and other services.
In Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, located near the border with Afghanistan, we conduct medical consultations and screening for infectious diseases through mobile clinics. Counselling, social support, health education, and referrals to specialist health facilities are also available at our clinic in Golshahr district, where most of the Afghans in the city have settled.
In Razavi Khorasan province, we offer mental health support and treatment for hepatitis C to people who use drugs in rehabilitation centres in Torbat-e Jam’s ‘Guest City’, a government-run refugee settlement.
Further south, in Kerman city, we started providing basic healthcare and referrals for specialist care exclusively for Afghan refugees and migrants. We are also rehabilitating three health facilities to improve access to basic healthcare services for newly arrived and unregistered Afghan refugees.