Health services system for seafarers and fishermen in Iran.

The maritime health services system is presented in this review article. The national Iranian shipping line IRISL owns the largest commercial fleet in the Middle East and it operates 137 ships. This company and several other national shipping companies employ over 5900 seafarers. There are 11,000 fishing ships and boats and the number of Iranian fishermen reaches 124,000. Seafarers and fishermen are regularly medically examined and issued health certificates, according to the national regulations. The health services system for them is linked to the port authorities throughout the country. Observations, data and relevant statistics on the health problems of the national maritime workers have been regularly collected.