The Ministry of Health has announced a budget of 400 billion toumans to promote childbearing and increase the national fertility rate.
A ministry spokesman told IRNA that the budget will be targeted toward “infertility treatments, providing insurance for infertility treatment drugs and reducing their costs”.
He also referred to programs to encourage single-child families to have more children.
Iran’s fertility rate is currently 1.8, compared to a global rate of 2.1. Mohammad Eslami said any country with a fertility rate that falls below 2 is under threat.
Earlier reports from the National Census indicate that 33 percent of married couples do not want to have children, and with “falling birth rates and marriages as well as a rising number of divorces, society is moving toward a decline in population”.
Iran’s Supreme Leader has announced that his earlier recommendation to have fewer children was mistaken and he has called on the government to promote childbirth.
