This morning in Brussels, Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, and Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Minister of Health and Medical Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran, met to discuss a number of health and food safety issues.

The two leaders discussed antimicrobial resistance, health security inducing the international health regulations, health technology assessment, fight against non-communicable diseases, tobacco – with a focus on the ratification of the Protocol to Eliminate illicit trade of tobacco under World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a number of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues, and collaboration on health research.

"I welcome Iran's commitment and contribution towards improving global health security and preparedness for outbreaks and health emergencies", said Commissioner Andriukaitis. He further welcomed the efforts undertaken by Iran related to antimicrobial resistance and encouraged the alignment of Iran's national action plan with the commitments made under the 2015 World Health Organisation action plan on AMR.

The Commissioner also stressed the importance of research and innovation remaining high on the agenda for cooperation between the EU and Iran, pointing out that the joint workshop on health research planned for April in Tehran would be a good opportunity to take this collaboration to the next level.

During his visit to Brussels, Minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi has also met with Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development to discuss a number of issues related to his portfolio.

For more information:

• EU action on Global Health