One refugee nurse’s pursuit to help Afghans in Iran

Zakieh Mohammadi’s parents sought refuge in Iran 33 years ago. Nine years later and the youngest of eight children, Zakieh was born in Falavarjan – a historical city in Esfahan province.

In pursuit of her aspirations to help others, especially the refugee community, Zakieh entered nursing school after successfully passing her university entrance exams. Throughout her studies, Zakieh observed that while many health services tend to be available for all to use, the rate of participation by Afghans is noticeably low, often due to cultural and language barriers faced by refugee communities.

In addition, non-communicable diseases remain a significant contributor to the burden of disease in both Iranian and Afghan populations, and are costly to treat. Prevention measures and awareness-raising are therefore critical interventions in targeting these health issues before they even arise.

Identifying these problems and inspired by similar projects implemented by the Health Networks in Iran, Zakieh helped shape the foundations of a community-based health screening project in Esfahan, in cooperation with UNHCR the Bureau for Alien and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA).

Motivated to improve the health of Afghan refugees, Zakieh mobilized a group of fellow Afghan refugee students in the field of health and medical sciences and drafted a project proposal for ‘Lifestyle Disease Screening among Afghan Refugees’, which she presented to BAFIA and UNHCR Field Unit Esfahan.

Recognising the project’s potential, UNHCR assisted Zakieh to further develop her proposal and to follow-up with relevant authorities to ensure its success. Once UNHCR approved the project’s funding it was launched in early 2017 in coordination with BAFIA, UNHCR and the Health Network of Esfahan Medical Science University.

Within the first three weeks of its launch some 2,000 Afghan refugees were examined for lifestyle diseases including obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Those individuals at high risk were identified and received nutrition and healthy lifestyle consultations, and were referred to their nearby health post for further follow-ups and health monitoring.

The high popularity of the health services offered so early on in the project’s implementation encouraged the team to extend the activities for an additional three weeks, and to reach out to the traditionally conservative Pashtoun communities residing in the remote rural areas of Ziyar.

By the end of the six-week project, over 4,300 refugees had participated in the screening and received healthcare services – a significant number of whom were middle-aged and elderly refugees.

Upon completion of the health screening project, Zakieh reflects

“my goal was to help my countrymen and women and to raise awareness about non-communicable diseases in line with my education as a nurse”

Sharing her plans for the future she explains that this is just the beginning in the realisation of her aspirations; “if the untapped potential of young refugees can be discovered and invested in, we can do more for Iran’s refugee community”.