Tuberculosis treatment in Iran is completely free of charge despite the fact that it costs $120 to $60,000 per patient depending on the situation’s severity, head of tuberculosis control department of Health Ministry has said.

The average cost of treating a person with TB disease increases with greater resistance, direct costs average $120 to treat drug-susceptible TB and $60,000 to treat drug-resistant TB, IRNA quoted Mahshid Nasehi as saying on Wednesday.

The number of people diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in the country estimated at 8,713, 54 percent of which are male and 46 percent are female, she regretted, adding, about 16.3 percent of the cases suffering the disease are foreign nationals.

“However, foreign nationals infected with TB in the country accounted for 12 percent in the Iranian calendar year 1392 (March 2013-March 2014),” she said.

During the past five decades, the incidence of tuberculosis has dropped from 140 per 100,000 to 11 per 100,000 people in Iran, she highlighted.

According to Nasehi, the highest incidence of tuberculosis in the country is in the age group of 65 years and above.

“Sistan-Baluchestan and Golestan provinces have the highest prevalence of TB, respectively,” she noted.

She further concluded that tuberculosis is mostly treatable, provided that one began taking medication on time and taking the course of treatment completely.

Tuberculosis symptoms and causes

Tuberculosis is a communicable disease that is a major cause of ill health, one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide and the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent (ranking above HIV/AIDS). It is caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is spread when people who are sick with TB expel bacteria into the air; for example, by coughing.

It typically affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect other sites (extrapulmonary TB). About a quarter of the world’s population is infected with M. tuberculosis and thus at risk of developing TB disease. With timely diagnosis and treatment with first-line antibiotics for 6 months, most people who develop TB can be cured and onward transmission of infection curtailed.

The number of TB cases occurring each year (and thus the number of TB-related deaths) can also be driven down by reducing the prevalence of health-related risk factors for TB (e.g. smoking, diabetes and HIV infection), providing preventive treatment to people with a latent TB infection, and taking multisectoral action on broader determinants of TB infection and disease (e.g. poverty, housing quality and undernutrition).

TB in the world

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 10.0 million (range, 9.0–11.1 million) people fell ill with TB in 2018, a number that has been relatively stable in recent years. The burden of disease varies enormously among countries, from fewer than five to more than 500 new cases per 100,000 populations per year, with the global average being around 130.

TB affects people of both sexes in all age groups but the highest-burden is in men (aged >15 years), who accounted for 57 percent of all TB cases in 2018. By comparison, women accounted for 32 percent and children (aged <15) for 11 percent. / T.T/

The 64th edition of Belgrade Book Fair, the most visited cultural event in Serbia, kicked off on Sunday with Iranian publishers attending the event.

The Iranian pavilion, organized by the country’s Cultural Fairs Institute, is showcasing over 100 books, handicrafts, maps, films and cultural brochures at the event.

Various religious, cultural and literary books such as Nahj al-Balagha, Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, Masnavi, Bustan, Conference of the Birds, Parvin E’tesami’s pomes, Rubâ’iyât of Omar Khayyâm, Anecdotes of Pious Men are being showcased by the Iranian representatives.

The 64th International Belgrade Book Fair, with a floor area of some 30,000 square meters, has drawn 500 publishing houses and thousands of visitors.

The Book Fair was opened by Milovan Vitezovic, writer and chairmen of Serbia’s association of writers together with Haitham Al-Haj Ali, president of the General Egyptian Book Organization, who represents Egypt, the guest country this year. / MNA/

Iran’s chess player Mobina Alinasab has reached the top of table of World Youth Chess Championships after beating her Indian opponent.

As the fifth round of World Youth Chess Championships in India continued in India, the young Iranian female chess player Mobina Alinasab defeated a player from the host country to reach the top of the table of the competitions with 4.5 points.

Another Iranian chess player Mohammad Amin Tabatabei drew against an Indian opponent to rank 25th on the list of the best chess players with 3 points.

Arian Gholami was the third Iranian representative who avoided competing against a player from the Zionist regime of Israel and did not continue the championships.

The U-20 World Youth Chess Championships is underway in the Indian city of Mumbai and includes six events in three age categories split between the open and the girls’ section. The event will crown six new world champions in the age categories of under-14, under-16 and under-18 in both sections, open and girls’. A total of 189 players (male and female) are taking part in the competitions, which lasts until the 25th of October.

Iranian male chess player Parham Maghsoudloo was crowned in the 2018 edition of the championships. / MNA/

Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler Pejman Poshtam won gold on Thursday at Men 77kg category of the World Military Games that are being held in China.

Poshtam defeated his Azerbaijani rival Hasan Aliyev in the finals of the Men 77kg category to wear the gold medal on Thursday, IRNA reported.

The Iranian military officer had beaten North Korean, German and Romanian wrestlers to win the category.

Also, Amin Mirzazaeh of Iran finished third to win bronze at Men 130kg Greco-Roman category.

100 military athletes from Iran are taking part in several disciplines like cycling, orienteering, wrestling, life-saving, volleyball, archery, parachuting, track, and fields.

Thousands of military athletes from member states of the International Military Sports Council, or CISM, are participating in the 10-day 7th CISM Military World Games in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei province, in October.   / Iran Daily /

As many as six memoranda of understanding have been signed between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan in Baku in a bid to boost technological cooperation between the knowledge-based companies of the two sides.

The MoUs are related to nanotechnology-enhanced flooring with high resistance, electronics and food flavoring.

The head of Iran National Innovation Fund, Ali Vahdat, described the signing of the six MoUs between the Iranian knowledge-based companies and their Azeri counterparts as an important event, saying “this is just the beginning. I hope the same trend will continue.”

He put the value of the contracts at over $4 million.

Vahdat also noted that a Center for Innovative Cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan has been inaugurated in a bid to boost collaboration between the two countries’ tech companies. The center will host a permanent exhibition of Iranian knowledge-based products for a year, he added.

The Azeri side voiced the country’s readiness to expand cooperation with Iranian start-ups, the number of which currently stands at 4,700. / MNA/

Iranian farmers are expected to produce a total of 430 tons of saffron in the current fiscal year (March 2019-2020), a senior official affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry said on Saturday.

Hossein Zeinali, the medicinal plants’ project manager of Iran’s Agriculture Ministry, said some 113,000-115,000 hectares of land have been used for saffron cultivation since March 2019, and the farmers are expected to produce 430 tons of saffron this year.

Saffron is cultivated in 22 Iranian provinces; Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan and South Khorasan provinces, in eastern Iran, account for almost 90% of the country’s total saffron output, he added.

According to the official, the saffron industry has created some 200,000 jobs across the pre-harvest, harvest, post-harvest, processing, sorting and packaging chain.

Iran produced 404 tons of saffron during the year to March 20, of which 280 tons were exported.

The priceless plant was sent to more than 40 countries. Spain, Vietnam, Qatar and the UAE were Iran’s biggest saffron importers during the period, he added. / Mehr news /

Iranian documentary ‘Beloved’, directed by Yaser Talebi, has won six awards at international film festivals. Directed by Yaser Talebi, the Iranian documentary ‘Beloved’ has been awarded at six international film festivals as follow:

The Special Jury Award at the 22nd Religion Today Film Festival in Trento, Italy

The Best Cinematography Award at the Symi International Film Festival in Greece

The Best Film Award at the Nuovi Mondi Film Festival in Italy

The Special Jury Award at the Slemani International Film Festival in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan

Best Documentary and Best Filming Award at Sole Luna Doc Film Festival in Italy

‘Beloved’ has been one of the most successful Iranian documentaries in the past year, taking part in several notable film festivals such as Hot Docs, IDFA, and Berlin.

The film follows the life of an 80-year-old mother named Firouzeh who is fond of her isolated lifestyle in nature with her cows. The film shows her kind and loving character and demonstrates her bravery and strength tackling the hardship of life in the Alborz Mountains without the modern comforts of technology. She believes happiness lies in the simplicity of life.

The documentary recently received a Special Mention at the 67th Trento International Film Festival in Italy and a Special Mention at the 25th edition of Shanghai Television Festival in China, as well as the NETPAC Award at the 2019 Ulju Mountain Film Festival in South Korea.

It has also received the best feature documentary award and a diploma at the 15th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival in the Republic of Tatarstan. / MNA/

The capacity of generating electricity from renewable resources has reached 841 megawatts (MW) in Iran, nearly double the figure for the last year’s same period, IRNA reported, quoting an energy official.

Speaking in the opening ceremony of Iran’s 4th Renewable Energy Conference on Monday, Homayoun Haeri the deputy minister of energy for electricity affairs, said “The country’s renewable electricity generation capacity will rise to 1000 MW by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 19, 2020).”

He noted that Iran has good sources of renewable energy in addition to its huge fossil energy resources, adding that currently, 60,000 MW of wind energy potential has been identified across the country.

Haeri further stressed the growing role of renewable power plants in the country’s energy basket, saying “the country’s renewable power plants provided over 500 MW of electricity to the country’s power network during the peak consumption period in summer.”

Renewables, including hydropower, account for just six percent of energy generation, versus natural gas’ 90 percent share.

Overall, in the next five years, Iran is aiming for a 5,000 MW increase in renewable capacity to meet growing domestic demand and expand its presence in the regional electricity market.

According to Iran’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (known as SATBA) the number of small scale solar power plants across the country which are used by households or small industries is being increased noticeably as Iranian households and small industries have embraced the new technology with open arms and investors also seem eager for more contribution in this area.

Back in February, Head of SATBA Seyed Mohammad Sadeqzadeh announced that Iran also plans to add electricity generated from renewable sources to the export backset. / T.T/

Adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture Hossein Zein’ali put the export value of saffron in the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 21 – August 21) at $78 million.

The Islamic Republic of Iran exported about 74 tons of saffron, valued at over $78 million, to target countries in the first five months of the current year.

He made the remarks on Wed. in an interview with IRNA and pointed to some claims about saffron price slump in the country due to the increased production of 100-ton saffron in current year as compared to a year earlier and added, “presently, more than 20 percent of exports value of horticultural sector of the country is caused by the export of saffron.”

Despite sanctions imposed on Iran, about 280 tons of saffron, valued at $351 million, was exported to other countries while the exports volume of saffron in 2011 hit about 122 tons at large.

Iran’s high-quality saffron was exported to over 40 countries in the world mainly to Spain, Vietnam, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he added.

There is no restriction for the export of saffron plants in a way that this product can be exported by merchants with different qualities, Zein’ali stated.

He pointed to the creation of value chain as one of the basic and fundamental moves taken in the field of saffron export and said, “Ministry of Agriculture tries to expand cultivation of this plant in different provinces of the country in such a way that the saffron produced in each province will be used or exported in the same province.”/MNA /