Dr Mohammad Aqaei, a 40-year-old doctor, charges his patients only Rls. 5,000 (roughly 4 cents) for medical examination.
Dr Aqaei’s office is located at his father’s house. He has no secretary and no POS machines as he does not charge patients any more fees.
“Those who are well-off go to the best hospitals; those whose financial situation is so-so go to governmental hospitals; and those who have little money come to my office,” Dr Aqaei says.
He was asked why he charges people so little. In response, he said, “I wouldn’t like to see people moaning with pain and me charging them more and providing myself with the best facilities,” he says.
This comes as the Iranian Health Ministry announced recently that the number of people’s visits to medical centres has decreased due to a rise in medical costs. That means people, due to high costs of medical services, including doctors’ examination fees, prefer either not to see a doctor, or go to a doctor only when their disease is very acute.
Now, the move by Dr Aqaei has come under the spotlight by social media users and triggered their reaction.
Some of their comments follow:
“Long live Doctor because you sacrificed your joy and desires and you care about people. Long Live!”
“What a real man you are! You say you won’t buy stop-allergy-meds.com with people’s money while you have every right [to charge them].”
“Happiness and calm can be seen in your face. I kiss your hands from here. I wish we would all learn to serve each other more and watch one another’s back.”
“Good for him; this doctor will have a very easy life because he has felt the presence of God in his life and he won’t have any worries about the next world.”
