Tehran (IP)- Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki delivered a speech during a ceremony to honour the manufacturing capabilities of Iran's pharmaceutical industry on Monday.

Iran Press/ Iran News: At the ceremony, the Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Iran's health minister Saeed Namaki stated, "During this year we had a 30% increase in production of pharmaceutical drugs at home.  Also, we had a 25% decrease in medicinal imports compared to the previous year.

We had a 600 million Euro decrease in foreign currency expenditure on the import of medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs this year. Before the Islamic revolution we only produced 25% of the medicinal drugs we used and only at the laboratory level, but now we produce 97% of our needed drugs.

Further during this ceremony, Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari delivered a speech saying: "Pharmaceutical industry, medical equipment, and biotechnology are among our strengths in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

He added educated people can turn creative ideas into production and medical equipment are being produced in the country in high-tech biotechnology and knowledge-based companies.

The ceremony to honor the manufacturing capabilities of the Iranian pharmaceutical industry and medical equipment kicked off this morning at the Holy Defence Conference Hall in Tehran with the attendance of the Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki, the Head of Food and Drug Administration of Iran (FDA) Mohammad Reza Shanesaz and Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari.

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