Iran scraps state-run vasectomies and contraceptives

Iran scraps state-run vasectomies and contraceptives as it attempts to boost its aging population

  • Move comes as country’s annual population growth dropped to below 1 per cent 
  • Vasectomies will no longer be available at state-run hospitals
  • Contraceptives will only be offered to women for medical reasons 

Iran has moved to limit family planning services at government run medical centres in a bid to increase the population.  

Services such as vasectomies and female contraception will no longer be state-run under the new measures, but will still be available at private hospitals. 

The move comes as the country’s annual population growth dropped to below 1 per cent and statistics show Iran’s marriage and birth rates have fallen, state-run news agency Irna reported. 

Iran has moved to limit family planning services at government run medical centres in a bid to increase the population. Above, citizens wear medical masks as a precaution against coronavirus in Tehran 

Vasectomies will no longer be available at state-run medical centres, while contraceptives will only be offered to women for medical reasons, under the new measures, according to a report in the BBC. 

According to Deputy Health Minister Seyed Hamed Barakati,  the marriage rate had dropped by 40% in a decade.

‘With this trend, we will be one of the oldest countries in the world in the next 30 years,’ he said. 

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for Iran’s population to grow from 80 million to 150 million. 

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