ClintonSchool

Health Houses: From Iran to the Mississippi Delta
Date: 8/26/2010

Beginning in the early 1980s, Iran created a network of rural "health houses," helping to cut infant mortality in the country by more than two thirds. Today, there are 17,000 health houses in Iran, covering over 90 percent of its rural population. James Miller, managing director of the Mississippi Community Health House Network, discusses his organization’s efforts, based on the Iranian model, to create health houses in Mississippi to provide better health care to impoverished parts of the state. Health houses are informal sites that serve as the first stop for community medical needs. They work to improve patient health habits, treatment and disease prevention. After a promising start in Mississippi, the model is also being considered in rural Arkansas and in parts of New Orleans.