30,000 Iranian GPs unwilling to work over low fees, official says
Around 30,000 general practitioners in Iran are unwilling to practice due to low doctor's fees, according to Mohammad Raiszadeh, head of the Medical Council.
"The problem we are facing is that general practitioners are not interested in pursuing specialization or working in the medical field. This issue cannot be resolved with such extremely low fees," Raiszadeh, who leads the non-governmental licensing and regulatory body for the medical profession, said Thursday.
The same official noted in November that, compared to the salaries of civil servants and the wages of workers, doctors' incomes have experienced minimal growth in recent years. Moreover, due to a persistent inflation rate exceeding 40%, nominal incomes have lost much of their purchasing power since 2019.
The Iranian government strictly regulates medical fees and annually announces chargeable rates for private general practitioners, specialists, and dentists.
In early April, for instance, doctor's fees for general practitioners and specialists were set at 1.26 million rials ($20) and 1.89 million rials ($30), respectively, for the next twelve months. The medical community argues that these tariffs for medical services do not align with inflation and has strongly objected to them.
