Post-COVID in Iran: From “Treatment-Centered” to “Community-Oriented”

The COVID-19 pandemic has been experienced as a health crisis and a strong benchmark for measuring the resilience of health systems around the world. Focusing on the findings of a comparative study of some of the more successful countries in crisis management, this perspective emphasizes the strategy that the Iranian health system needs a paradigm shift from a “treatment-oriented” approach to a “health-oriented and preventive” system. Focusing on this approach, the experiences of successful countries indicate that investing simultaneously in the three axes of “transparency”, “strengthening primary health care”, and “increasing social capital” is the way out of the ineffective cycle of crisis management. This article encourages policymakers and researchers in the field of health to redefine research priorities, policies, and programs of the health system, from focusing on complex technologies to strengthening public trust, organizing, and promoting community health. This article encourages policymakers and researchers in the field of health to redefine research priorities, policies, and programs of the health system, from focusing on complex technologies to strengthening public trust, organizing, and promoting community health.