A Short History of Homeopathy in Iran
by Dr.Pedram Moiini Homeopath and Representative of Iranian Homeopathy Association in Isfahan
The history of homeopathy in Iran can be classified into two time periods. In the first period, physicians who were involved in homeopathic medical practice did so discretely. Undoubtedly the late Dr. Baharmand can be counted as the first Iranian homeopath. He, in 1924, began homeopathic medical practice in an office adjacent to the British embassy. After him, we can name the late Dr. Tabibi who continued the practice of homeopathy in the vicinity of Karimkhan Street in Tehran and delivered homeopathic medications to the patients with cooperation of the Red Crescent. The last one of the previous generation of homeopathic doctors is Professor Jam. He is one of the founders of Tabriz faculty of medicine where educational seminars on homeopathy were presented. Now at the age of 90+ he has long since retired.
The second generation of homeopaths is indebted to Dr. Naaseri (Ph D in Aerospace Studies). The movement he started in Iran led to free homeopathy classes at the School of Medicine of Tehran Islamic Azad University, and also at Uromia University. Additionally he treated many patients without charging a fee. But because he was not a physician, he was treated unkindly by health authorities and consequently he returned to England.
Dr. Mirzazadeh was invited by the authorities in the Ministry of Health and came from Germany to Iran. He also held free classes to train a small group of homeopaths. He continues to practice in Tehran.
Some students of Dr Naaseri and Dr Mirzazadeh progressed and they themselves became experts in homeopathy and subsequently teachers. Some are now internationally renowned. Here, we must name Mr. Gholam-Hossein Beheshti who has always played an effective role in the promotion of homeopathy. He played an important role in arranging homeopathy classes as well as teaching, in particular, the philosophy of homeopathy. In this way, he paved the path for the development and extension of homeopathy throughout the country via different seminars held in various culture centers.
On October 26th in 1995, the Supreme Council of Assessment of the Ministry of Treatment and Medical Education recognized Homeopathy as a therapeutic method, and finally in January 16th 1999 the regulations related to homeopathic physicians were communicated by the Minister of Health, Dr. Farhadi, to the education deputy of the Ministry and it was communicated to the medical sciences universities for immediate action. After this official recognition, nine physicians decided to establish a homeopathic association and they submitted a request to the Ministry of Interior. In time, the Ministry of Health and Treatment and Medical Education replied positively to the inquiry from the Ministry of Interior by issuing letter No.: A/10001. Eventually the permit for commencing activities of the Iranian Homeopathic Association (IHA) was issued.
The association’s founding board composed of Dr. Mazaherinezhad, Dr. Movaffagh, and Dr. Yousefizadeh was formed. Commencing work on December 20th, 2001, members were under the supervision of an official representative of the Ministry of Interior. As an initial task they prepared the Articles of the Association and organized and held the first general assembly of the founding members in October 2002. At this meeting, a 5-member administrative board was elected by 130 homeopathic physicians for the first time and are as follows:
Dr. Ardavan Shahrdar as president
Dr. Mehdi Movafaghsharif as vice president
Dr. Ali Mazaherinezhad as General Secretary
Dr. Faranak Farzad as Treasurer
Dr. Siamak Youssefizadeh
The first IHA board of directors from 2002-2005 had lots of correspondence with national and international organizations and played an active role in the legalization of homeopathy in Iran. During this period IHA had many contacts with international organizations such as ICCH and AHML and at last became a member of LMHI. IHA owes Dr Shahrdar for his great effort on international contacts. On the other hand the directorial board was active in national accreditation of homeopathy by corresponding with the Ministry of Health, and Health Commission of parliament. During this period, Tehran University began a 2 year course of Homeopathy through the endless efforts of Dr. Bijan Radmehr and Dr. Amirabbas Jafary. This course still continues to date.
On July 2005 the 2nd administrative board was elected by IHA members as follows:
Dr. Ali Mazaherinezhad as president
Dr. Fazel Hamidbehnam as vice president
Dr. Farbod Rahnamaie-Chitsaz as General Secretary
Dr. Arash Ahmadi as Treasurer
Dr. Behnoosh Nooshe
