Health Equity Research Center, in collaboration with the research department of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, hosted this meeting on February 18, 2016; with the university’s dean, deputy of research and technology, and several professors of the university as participants.

the meeting was started by Dr. Karimi, the dean, recalling his long history with some of the attendees;” from 43 years ago me, a first-year student, and Dr. Noorbala, a second-year student at the time, were concerned about justice and equity.
The dean described the university as a cradle for the pursuit of equity and added:” in that era, the pursuit of equity in Tehran university was a trend; Dr. Harirchi and Dr. Emami were known figures of this. He also added:” nowadays equity is advancing faster than us, to match its speed we need to take bigger steps.

Dr. Olyaeemanesh, the director of Health Equity Research Center, referring to words of Amir al-Mu’minin (equity is putting things where they belong) continued:” equity is a general theory and like all other general theories must be put into different concepts and be defined accordingly. the director continued: ” in our field, equity is defined in the concept of health and illness. In social settings, equity is considered to be firstly safety and then health; therefore it is our responsibility to constantly and consciously check its state in health.
Dr. Olyaeemanesh, noting that social equity is something that’s been emphasized in our hadith, continued:” the method we use in the pursuit of equity and justice will automatically bring us closer to our goals, this is where our attention is drawn to social determinants of health”. He added:” the factors that can have the most unjust influences on peoples lives, are the external ones, not the ones in health sphere or the service delivery; we must be extra couscous of these factors. Because social determinants of health are threats to equity, if we’re not careful the gaps in health would become wider, and no matter how much the health system tries to provide suitable accessibility, utilization, or even financial protection, because of these external factors inequities and gaps would deepen day by day.

The director continued by saying:” The Health Equity Research Center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, officially started its activities in the summer of  2017. Our mission is to generate knowledge, create ideas and innovations by Designing and Implementing equity-related research in health, social determinants of health, and other related Interdisciplinary topics. Additionally by identifying and researching on the latest social trends, we gather and present the needed evidence to policymakers, managers, and authorities to aid decision making. Dr. Olyaeemanesh added:” fortunately after the implementation of the health reforms, we have moved towards reducing inequities in health and have had tremendous achievements. We hope to sustain these achievements and turn them to a safety net for our people, especially the less fortunate.

Dr. Sahraeian, the deputy of research and technology, said:” We constructed a research center to resolve diseases and the challenges of our society, and we expect to achieve it using a scientific and effective method; meaning when we faced any social problems we used to turn a blind eye, most solutions were theoretical and the decision-makers made comments based on their own experience rather than research-backed evidence. With declaring that the Health Equity Research Center, without a doubt, can voice out the challenges and fill the information deficiencies of the system for the authorities he continued:” whether we like it or not there are many grey areas, strange factors are at work; like peculiar treatments and diseases and costly treatments that might threaten the health system in the future; from another point of view superior technology has increased life expectancy but all of this is costly. Dr. Sahraeian added:” when we look at the word equity, our main thought is the concern for the patient but the equity for care providers and medical teams and equity between them is also of importance; if they feel inequity among themselves we will face complications in providing suitable care. The deputy of research and technology expressed hope that the scholars of this center would be able to do well for the country.

The meeting proceeded by speeches of Hojjat al-Eslam Ameli, a professor of the Azad university, on  justice and injustice becoming algorithmic and Dr. Haghdoost on influential and common social harms. After these Dr. Takian presented the panel with Dr. Harirchi, Dr. Haghdoost, Dr. Majd, Dr. Emami, Dr. Male Afzali, Dr. Kabir, and Dr. Rostamian, and the questions of the attendants were answered.

In the end, Dr. Harirchi, deputy of the health minister, confirmed that the progress of the health ministry and insurance companies are in line with equity and explained some how expenses and costs of health services were before the reforms.