This morning, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a group meeting with nurses and families of the martyrs who defended health, called the behaviour and words of Hazrat Zeinab Kobra (peace be upon her) a manifestation and illustration of the greatness, spiritual and intellectual power of women. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, by Explaining the various dimensions of "the value of being a nurse and the hardships and bitterness of this honourable job", considered strengthening the nursing community in various angles as the primary demand of nurses and the realization of this logical demand the duty of officials and a necessity for the present and future of the country and society. Congratulating the birth of Hazrat Zeinab (PBUH) and Nurse's Day to each of the nurses and activists in the field of treatment and health, he said: The great lady of Karbala has proved to all humanity and history that the "woman", despite all the short-sighted efforts of the past and present, including the authoritarian Westerners in the humiliation of woman, can be a vast ocean of patience, and a zenith of wisdom and prudence.

The Leader of the Revolution called the patience of Hazrat Zainab (PBUH) in the face of calamities indescribable and added: The Leader of the Revolution called the patience of Hazrat Zainab (PBUH) in the face of calamities "tolerating and enduring the martyrdom of 18 loved ones, including the noble brother the proof of God, Hazrat Seyyed al-Shuhada and two of the children of Hazrat Zainab", "Patience against the insults of thugs who insulated that great lady of the honoured family of the Messenger of God", "Bearing the heavy responsibility of collecting and managing dozens of grieving and afflicted women and children" and "Beautiful patience in nursing Imam Sajjad (AS)" are manifestations of the spiritual greatness of Hazrat Zeinab as a woman. In explaining the wise behaviour and intellectual power of that great lady, he pointed to the intelligent behaviour and wonderful words of Hazrat Zainab in front of the oppressive rulers and utterance of nonsense by those such as Ibn Ziad and Yazid and said:

In front of the people, that historical authority gives way to explanations and reprehensible words, which later turned to one of the causes of the repentance uprising in Kufa.

The Supreme Leader of the Revolution mentioned: "Jihad (the struggle to) of Narration and Explanation" as another dimension of wisdom and deep insight of Hazrat Zainab and added: With the true, influential and lasting narration of Karbala, Hazrat Zainab did not give the enemy's narration a chance to overcome reality.

 Reiterating his past emphasis on the need for an authentic narrative of "the realities of society, the history of the revolution, the sacred defence, and the various events of the last 42 years," he said: If this is not done, which has not been done in many cases, the enemy will justify his distorted and false narrative in the current public opinion, and by changing the place of the oppressor and the oppressed, he will justify his continuous oppressive actions.

In another part of his speech on the values ​​of nursing, Ayatollah Khamenei said: The main point of these values ​​is to help the needy person, that is, the patient, who needs the attention and help of a nurse in all matters.

The Supreme Leader of the Revolution considered the job of nursing to have a double divine reward and added: Creating peace of mind for the patient, the patient's relatives and all people is another prominent value of being a nurse, and the whole nation is in fact indebted to the nurse community. He referred to the joy of arrogant in the suffering of the Iranian nation, manifested in events such as "helping Saddam to carry out chemical bombings and causing deep pain and suffering to the people of Iran's border cities" and issues such as "drug embargo on the Iranian nation.", and added: Given these facts, when nurses, put a smile on the lips of patients and their loved ones through endeavour and self-sacrifice, they are in fact struggling against the malice arrogant, which adds extra value to the nursing community in Islamic Iran. In continuation, the Supreme Leader of the Revolution called the nature of the job of a nurse, "observing the pain and suffering of patients and caring for them around the clock," as bitter and harsh, and said. At some stages, such as the period of the Holy Defense or the Corona, these difficulties have multiplied.

Ayatollah Khamenei added: Just as the period of the imposed war when doctors, nurses, and paramedics worked under bombardment, they did the same during the Corona period through increased working hours, reduced leaves and presence in the hospital during Norooz Holidays and observing the painful observance of the death of people and colleagues and other extra hardship as well as tolerating the risk of being inflicted by a deadly disease. Emphasizing that the nation must understand and value these hardships, he cited the presence of groups such as students, scholars and young people to help nurses in the Corona as brilliant facts, adding: This commitment and sense of responsibility, which was expressed in different periods such as the struggles of the Revolution and the holy defence, shows the lively, dynamic and conscientious identity of the Iranian nation. The Supreme Leader of the Revolution considered the great scientific movement of the country as a sign and product of this growing identity and noted:

Heroes like the martyrs Soleimani, Fakhrizadeh and Shahriari emerge from this great truth and identity. Referring to the absence of artistic narrative of the hardships and difficulties of being a nurse, and the many fields and artistic themes to address these events, he said: Responsible and committed artists must come forward and show this huge cultural capital in the form of various arts. Ayatollah Khamenei then emphasized the issue of nurses' demands and said: The primary demand of the nurses in one sentence is "strengthening the nursing community", which is a necessity for the present and future of the country. He added: The Corona case showed that if the nursing community is not strengthened, we will be hit hard in the nick of time. The Supreme Leader of the Revolution called "the implementation of the law on pricing for nursing services" one of the specific demands of nurses, and referring to his previous emphases in this regard, said: This law was passed 14 years ago, but unfortunately, until the last days of the previous government, not even the bylaws were implemented, and I insist the Ministry of Health pursue and implement the issue of pricing in this government. "The shortage of nurses and the need to supplement it per capita relative to hospital beds," and the "issue of job security" were two other demands that the Supreme Leader of the Revolution considered necessary and said: at some stages, such as during the corona period, there have been calls for the nurse, but short-term contracts have been concluded with nurses and they have been dismissed after a while, whereas the nurse should have job security and should not be seen as a seasonal worker.

"Reconstruction of the country's health network" and "equitable distribution of doctors" were two other issues raised by the Supreme Leader regarding the health system.

Referring to the outstanding effects and achievements of the health system in the 60s and early 70s, focusing on health and prevention, he noted:

Of course, treatment is necessary, but prevention is better than that, and the health network must be rebuilt and strengthened in order to ensure the health of people at a lower cost. Ayatollah Khamenei called the distribution of doctors in different regions unfair and added: I will not comment on the issue of shortage or adequacy of doctors, but the distribution of doctors in different parts of the country is not fair, and this issue should be taken into consideration. At the end of his speech, the Supreme Leader of the Revolution called to trust in God Almighty, that is, work and effort, while trusting in the promise of divine blessing and help in all matters of life and country, and expressed hope that tomorrow will be better than today. God bless the Iranian nation to be victorious and proud in all areas of confrontation with enemies.

Prior to the speech of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Dr Ainollahi - Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education - praised the efforts of nurses and medical staff in 22 months of fighting the Corona, pointed to produce of the corona vaccine in five domestic scientific and research centres and provision of extensive injections and 110 million doses of the vaccine and said: To date, 74% of people have received both doses and 86% have received one dose of the vaccine. Mr Ainollahi also addressed and enumerated the concerns of the nursing community, reducing treatment costs, strengthening the family physician plan and referral system, supporting the domestic production of medicines and essential equipment, developing health tourism and properly implementing population growth policies amongst the priorities of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.