At the same time with the Health Week, a ceremony was held with the presence of the President of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in appreciation of health partners of Khorasan Razavi Province.

According to WEBDA, in this ceremony, attended by the Director General of Justice of Khorasan Razavi, the Public Prosecutor of the city of Mashhad, and the Deputy of Police Chief of Khorasan Razavi, the Deputy of Health of the university pointed to the motto of the Health Week, “a healthy, jolly, and hopeful life”, and stated that developing an awareness and fostering a culture of health promotion and emphasis on the modification of lifestyle in order to improve people’s health is among the goals of organizing the Health Week.

Dr. Hamidreza Bahrami appreciated the sincere efforts of directors, deputies, and the staff of the Dispute Resolution Council Center, the Police, and the Broadcasting Corporation in the implementation of health-related programs.

He pointed out that the trilateral cooperation of the Ministry of Justice, the Broadcasting Corporation, and the Police with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences has undoubtedly brought national honors for this university in controlling tobacco and hookah in the city of Mashhad as well as the touristy area of Torghabe-Shandiz.

Pointing to the measures taken in the reformation of health, the Deputy of Health of the university stated that enabling people to identify factors affecting their health and society, and to make decisions on the selection of health behaviors for achieving a health life is among the goals of the Health System Reform Plan in the context of health.

Pointing to the plan involving the intensification of monitoring food production and distribution places, he stated that due to the fact that toady a significant proportion of diseases are caused by consumption of food and water during the day, and for the achievement of major goals of the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education regarding the health maintenance and provision of the society, attention to the significance of the public health to achieve the goals of sustainable development in any country as well as access to safe and healthy food and water are among the most fundamental needs of the society.

Hence, monitoring programs in food production and distribution centers and public places have been implemented at all levels with the active participation of the environmental health officers in the affiliated cities for health inspection and control since the New Year’s Holiday and after that in non-working hours and holidays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Deputy of Health of the university stated that the city of Mashhad, with a population of over 3 million 500 thousand and more than 5 million pilgrims, had had at least 1 thousand official and unofficial hookah supply centers, which had caused the attraction of tourists and families to these places.

He added that in addition to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, smoking hookah had led to the expansion of delinquency and crime across the city of Mashhad, particularly Torghabe and Shandiz. Due to the sensitivity of the issue and directives from the Ministry of Health, the Smoking Reduction Plan was approved in the city government, the Food Health and Safety Committee of the Province, and the Municipal Security Council on November 17^th, 2014. During the implementation of the plan until May, 2016, all these centers were shut down in partnership with the Justice System, the Police, etc.

It is worth mentioning that in this meeting, the chairmen, deputies and the staff of the Dispute Resolution Council Center, the Police, and the Broadcasting Corporation were commended