National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
(Dr.Masih Daneshvari Hospital-Darabad-Tehran)
Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services)

Profile:

Dr.Masih Daneshvari hospital, affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, is almost 80 years old, has been known as the most active and renowned center and also as the center of excellence in the field of TB and lung diseases both in the country and the Middle East Region. It has been also recognized as the referral center for tr
aining and research programs once again in the country and the Middle East Region .The center is the only TB patients ‘ referral center especially MDR and XDR cases from inside the country and also provides services to patients from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Iraq… . It is noticeable that according to the highly extended international activities the center has achieved important international positions; the most notable ones are as follows:
1- The coordinating center of TAO (training affairs office) to reach Self-Reliance in Vaccine Production in Islamic countries supported by the Islamic Developing Bank (IDB).
2- The TB-lab collaborative center of the IUATLD.
3- The collaborative center of smoking control and prevention of WHO.
4- The TB training collaborative center of WHO/ EMRO.
5- The Secretariat of the Middle East Region of the IUATLD.

In the recent years this center has had the privilege to serve as the only lung transplant center in the country, plus the first and the only center of heart transplant center in Shahid Beheshti University. Considering the prohibitive cost of transplantation and its follow-up process, it is necessary to point out that offering these services to the needy patients mainly from the most vulnerable classes of the society, without generous support of charity people and organizations would be impossible.
Employing 920 personnel, consisting of 54 faculty members ,131 non-faculty members, 350 nurses and more than 385 staff, it has been known as the only TB diagnosis and treatment center for many years and according to National and Ministerial evaluations it has maintained its standing. This center serves an average of 55000 outpatients and 8000 inpatients every year. Furthermore, national, regional and international training and research workshops such as courses on TB/HIV program integrations are held annually for different levels of the health management network including program managers, medical doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, etc that more than 26 countries have been attending these workshops up to now.
Specifications of the hospital:

Dr.Masih Daneshvari hospital is located in the north east of Tehran, exactly in the temperate climate area of Darabad, consisting of 137500 square meters. In1880, this area was selected as MOZAFA-E-DIN SHAH QAJAR‘s resting place, then the crown prince who had TB, but gradually it changed from a king’s palace into a TB patients ‘ sanitarium ,nursing institute and ultimately an academic center to train and treat lung diseases.
The developing trend of the known center has sharply increased in the past 10 years in a way that it has changed into the greatest specialty and sub-specialty medical center of lung diseases both in the country and the Middle East Region. At present, by having 446 beds, 12 wards and a treatment section comprising 26000 square meters and a park land consisting of 137500 square meters , it is faced with a huge shortage of capacity for patient admission. To illustrate the problem we have to admit that in spite of the eye catching developments in the scientific field and ability of treating critically ill patients, due to the present deficiency of beds in different wards and disproportionate equipments of the hospital, patients have to stay on the waiting list to be visited and admitted. Currently, there is no possibility in giving services to all patients and the ones who need surgical treatments and laser therapy. Simultaneously this shortage has affected patients referred from neighbor countries.
With respect to increasing need of the country for proper scientific research and development, this center is also a pioneer in this field and by establishing 2 research complexes of TB and lung diseases consisting of 6 approved research centers. This wide range of activities and expansion of facilities have caused serious limitations because of its small space. Instantly, due to the vast international communication of this center, it hasn’t been able to either hold seminars, congresses, training workshops or independently serve foreign guests, so it has had to rely on the graciousness of other organizations to provide a suitable location.
Presently, in addition to the governmental ratified budget, a considerable amount of research and treatment costs is provided by charity groups and their affiliated organizations and without their tremendous help, accomplishing these achievements would be just impossible.

Targets to achieve:
According to the potential abilities of this center in the field of research and management of patients, it is planning to expand the location of the hospital and the research institute in the near future besides achieving constant scientific developments. In this way, there will be a great possibility of giving services to all patients who mainly come from under privileged, low-income strata of society.
In order to reach this goal, separate buildings have been designed for the hospital and the research Institute which are compatible with the current needs and even to fulfill the future needs of the center. So the planned structure can provide patients with better and more treatment facilities besides giving feasibility to scientific and research development.
A) Maps of the new hospital building consisting of 12700 square meters have been planned in 11 floors that provide a sufficient capacity of 120 patient admissions. In addition to the sufficient number of operation rooms, wards and treatment units, the new building also includes independent wards to perform outpatient surgical services on 2 work shifts. Regardingly, we will have the capacity to serve a greater number of patients both from Iran and abroad.

B) The building which has been designed for medical research purposes consists of 15000 square meters and provides expanded environment for research activities and to hold classes, training courses, congresses and seminars. Besides, it enables us to have an appropriate multipurpose location to train human resources and to fulfill our research objectives. It also provides researchers with a quiet site equipped with up to date IT facilities paves the way to compile more scientific papers and books so that it can open a substantial way to achieve scientific and research expansion which leads to basic and constant development.

Cost evaluation:
According to the calculation and prediction of the cost of building the hospital, equipments and research institute has been respectively estimated as 16.7, 8.9 and 15 million USD.
Title Square meters Floor Total cost
(million USD) Credit guarantee
by charity
(million USD) Extra needed funding
(million USD)
1 New hospital building 12700 11 16.7 4 12.7
2 Equipments of the new hospital — — 8.9 — 8.9
3 Research Institute building 15000 9 15 2 13
Total 27700 20 40.6 6 34.6