UNHCR is pleased to announce the opening of a newly constructed health post in Rafsanjan City, as part of UNHCR’s 2016 tripartite agreement between the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants’ Affairs (BAFIA), the Ministry of Health (MoH) and UNHCR.
The inauguration ceremony took place on 24th of April 2017 in the presence of the Rafsanjan Governor Mr. Mola Nouri, MoH Rafsanjan Dr.Esmaieeli and his Deputy Dr. Jamali zadeh, DG BAFIA Kerman Mr. Shams Aldini and UNHCR Head of Sob-Office Kerman, Ms. Agnes Mukantwali.
The new health post will increase the access of refugees as well as Iranians to important health services in Rafsanjan city where a large population of Afghan refugees reside.
During a MoH screening exercise in Rafsanjan County, 30,000 documented Afghans (Amayesh cardholders) were identified. An individual file was opened for each Afghan family to ensure that children under five years old participated in a MoH-led vaccination programme, resulting in the vaccination of 5,250 children in 2016-17.
In addition to the Afghans living in Rafsanjan city, 4,823 refugees reside in Rafsanjan’s refugee settlement where they benefit from a settlement-based health post. However, previous to the opening of the health post in the city itself, Afghan refugees residing outside the settlement faced challenges in gaining sufficient access to a range of services. The construction of this new health post will further enable refugees to meet their basic needs in Iran.
During the opening ceremony, UNHCR Head of Sub-Office Kerman expressed her gratitude to the Head of MoH Rafsanjan, His Deputy, DG BAFIA and the Rafsanjan Governer for their ongoing cooperation and support, and appreciated their contributions which enabled the construction of the new health post. The government officials emphasized on the growing number of Afghans in Rafsanjan and requested UNHCR’s continued support to improve refugees’ health in the county.
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