Afghanistan and Iran Strengthen Cooperation in Health and Pharmaceutical Sectors

Afghanistan’s Minister of Public Health, Mawlawi Noor Jalal Jalali, held talks in his official office in Kabul with the Deputy Minister of Health of Iran and Head of the Food and Drugs Administration, Mehdi Pir-Salehi, accompanied by Iran’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ali Reza Bikdeli.

The meeting was also attended by Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister for Food and Drug Affairs, Mawlawi Hamdullah Zahid. H.E. Jalali underlined the importance of expanding cooperation between Afghanistan and Iran in the health sector—particularly in the fields of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and diagnostic technology. He stated that Afghanistan intends to sign new agreements with Iran covering medicine import and production, the standardisation of traditional medicine, the use of Iranian laboratories as third-party testing facilities, and capacity-building programmes for Afghan specialists.

The minister also issued instructions regarding the quality and pricing of medicines entering the Afghan market. For his part, Deputy Minister Pir-Salehi said Iran is fully prepared to enhance comprehensive cooperation with Afghanistan in health and pharmaceuticals. He stressed that the purpose of his visit was to strengthen bilateral health ties, adding that medicines supplied to Afghanistan would be the same products used within Iran, not goods produced solely for export.

Pir-Salehi noted that around 40 Iranian companies were participating in a health exhibition in Kabul, describing their presence as evidence of deepening cooperation.

Deputy Minister Zahid highlighted that Afghanistan’s domestic pharmaceutical production has increased in recent months and that cooperation with neighbouring countries has created significant new opportunities in the sector. He expressed optimism that further achievements and expanded partnerships would soon help meet the needs of the Afghan people with high-quality medicines.