Iran is short of hundreds of medicines as Pezeshkian calls the pressure dangerous
Iran's pharmacists association says about 400 medicines now unavailable in the country are produced domestically, and roughly 90 count as essential or life-saving. Euronews reported sharp price rises, including insulin up six times over in a year, and said patients pay more than 70 per cent of health costs directly. In New Delhi before the BRICS summit, President Masoud Pezeshkian said pressure on Iran had reached a critical and dangerous stage after United States and Israeli military action.
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About 400 domestic medicines are unavailable, Euronews reports
Hadi Ahmadi, spokesperson for Iran's pharmacists association, said about 400 of the medicines now unavailable in the country are ones produced domestically. Roughly 90 of them count as essential or life-saving, Euronews reported. Prices have risen sharply in a year: insulin has gone up six times over, paracetamol by 375 per cent, amoxicillin by 285 per cent and gabapentin by 220 per cent. Salman Es'haghi, a member of parliament's health commission, said more than 70 per cent of health costs are paid directly by patients.[1]
The blockade in Euronews, and the warning from Pezeshkian
The US naval blockade imposed in April, briefly lifted and then reinstated, together with banking restrictions and Operation Economic Outcast launched in late August, has disrupted the supply of imported raw materials, Euronews reported. Vahideh Mahmoudkhani, who heads the health department of Iran's Shanghai trade centre, said some medicines that have run out are stuck in transit. President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking in New Delhi before the BRICS summit, said pressure had reached a critical and dangerous stage in recent months following military action by the United States and Israel. Business Recorder noted that those words are Pezeshkian's own assessment and carry no independent finding.[1], [2]
In New Delhi Pezeshkian says the pressure crosses borders
In the same New Delhi remarks Pezeshkian argued that the effect reaches past Iran's borders: when a country's trade, energy, infrastructure and financial system face political and military pressure, the repercussions extend beyond those borders. The United States and Israel began the war in late February with strikes on Iran; Tehran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, and global energy prices rose. Iran has lived with international sanctions for decades. The president was due to hold bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later the same day, Business Recorder reported.[2]
