Meeting the Challenges of International Crises: The Experience of the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization.

ABSTRACTCrises require a timely and well-prepared response by health services, especially those that are directly engaged with the lives of the patients such as blood services. The Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization as a single national authority of blood transfusion has left many crises behind. In this study, we examined the main international crises that the blood transfusion organization has faced during its 44-year history and objectively evaluated the methods for crisis risk reduction, both administrative and operational, all of which have led to fundamental advances in the organization.

The Enduring Health Challenges of Afghan Immigrants and Refugees in Iran: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: Iran is the third country in the world with the highest number of registered refugees with the majority coming from Afghanistan. They suffer major health and social risks yet their health status has never been comprehensively determined.

Methods: This systematic review of the literature highlights major disparities among documented immigrants in health access, communicable and non-communicable diseases and the increasingly desperate plight of undocumented immigrants.

When Health Diplomacy Serves Foreign Policy: Use of Soft Power to Quell Conflict and Crises.

Objective: Health diplomacy has increasingly become a crucial element in forging political neutrality and conflict resolution and the World Health Organization has strongly encouraged its use. Global turmoil has heightened, especially in the Middle East, and with it, political, religious, and cultural differences have become major reasons to incite crises.

Methods: The authors cite the example of the human stampede and the deaths of over 2000 pilgrims during the 2015 annual Haj pilgrimage in Mecca.

The status of blood safety in ECO member states.

Background: Access to the information concerning blood safety is essential for managing problems and overcoming the challenges that are faced in any given region. Information on the availability and safety of blood in countries of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) is largely lacking. To address this problem, the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organisation, in collaboration with other ECO member states, initiated a research project in 2009 to collect, analyse and compare statistics on blood safety in the region.