Access to health care for Afghan immigrants and refugees: an ethico-legal analysis based on the Iranian health law system

Farzad Zakian Khorramabadi; Vahid Moazzen; Alireza Parsapour; Amirhossein Takian; Abbas Mirshekari; Bagher Larijani; Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki

doi:10.18502/jmehm.v16i12.14307

Farzad Zakian Khorramabadi Ph.D. Candidate in Medical Ethics, Medical Ethics and History Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Teharn, Iran.
Vahid Moazzen Visiting Professor, Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law, Farabi campus, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Alireza Parsapour Assistant Professor, Medical Ethics and History Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Teharn, Iran.
Amirhossein Takian Professor, Department of Global Health and Public Policy, School of Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Teharn, Iran.
Abbas Mirshekari Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Teharn, Iran.
Bagher Larijani Professor, Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Teharn, Iran.
Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki Professor, Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Teharn, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jmehm.v16i12.14307

Keywords: Immigrant; Health equity; Access to health care; Right to health care; Bioethics.

Abstract

The right to health is an internationally recognized and established human right with a long history of appreciation, indicating that governments should guarantee the highest possible level of access to health and provide health-care serivces with no discrimination based on nationality, race, gender, language or religion. The present study explored this topic using an analytic-descriptive approach. We reviewed related laws, policies and other available documents with the aim to investigate the ethico-legal aspects of Afghan refugees' and immigrants' access to health care and the challenges in in this regard within the Iranian health law system.

According to the results of this study, the Iranian health law could be interpreted to include all Afghan immigrants in the country’s public health system as a legal commitment. In addition, while basic and primary health coverage is available for all Afghan immigrants in Iran, provision of other medical and rehabilitative health services to documented and undocumented immigrants follow different methods.

In order to alleviate the current situation, we recommend strategies such as supporting policy changes intended to register undocumented immigrants, which naturally results in an increase in their access to health care.