Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran's Health Ministry has allocated 4 trillion rials (about $120 million) for increasing a fertility rate in the country.
Iran's Health Ministry official Mohammad Eslami said that a total of 6 trillion rials (about $170 million) has been allocated for improving health and medical services, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on Feb. 15.
He added that the ministry has prepared a package of proposals to management and planning organizations for increasing the country's population.
The fertility rate is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime. The fertility rate in Iran is currently 1.8 and the global average is 2.1.
In May 2014, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran should seriously pursue the issue of reproduction to increase its population.
It is vital for Iran to prevent population aging, he added.
The Supreme Leader went on to say that the country cannot made progress without a young population.