TEHRAN – The inhumane sanctions have had devastating effects on the health system and the question is who is responsible for the deaths of some innocent patients due to the lack of essential medicines, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said.

He made the remarks at the 69th session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, being held in Cairo, Egypt on October 10-13.

Amidst all the efforts across the globe to contain COVID-19, my country suffers from inhumane and illegal economic sanctions. 

These unilateral coercive measures constitute a serious obstacle to the fulfillment of countries’ fundamental right to obtain and access the necessary means to contain and defeat COVID-19, he explained.

On a different point, Iran and other developing countries that have developed their own vaccines, expect the WHO to facilitate and expedite the registration process in order to obtain EUL. Whilst, in the battle against Omicron, vaccines remain the most effective public health intervention to protect people from COVID-19, the current approach would not serve the goal of a successful global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he further stated.

Furthermore, Access to the COVID-19 Accelerator Tool (ACT-A), which was launched for fair and equitable access to public goods failed to remove barriers to public access.  Thus, it is important to ensure compliance and consistency throughout the envisaged line of activities.

Vaccine hesitancy and poor community engagement are still prevalent across the world. Further work is required to raise awareness because no one is safe until everyone is safe, he also said.

Einollahi said in July that despite the sanctions that have existed since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution to prevent the country from progressing, Iran has the strongest health system in the region.

Impact of sanctions on patients

Alena Douhan, the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur, said in September that she has been greatly affected by the impact of sanctions on Iranian citizens suffering from “genetic diseases” or “cancer”.

“It has usually been maintained that unilateral sanctions are imposed by ‘good guys on bad guys’ for some ‘supreme purpose’ and with good intentions, but unfortunately in reality that is the people of the country who are affected enormously,” she noted.
In a report published in September on the effects of decades of embargoes on Iran, Douhan said that sanctions had affected nearly every aspect of life in Iran.

The provision of medicines and medical equipment to Iran was “severely undermined” by sanctions on finance, trade, shipping, insurance and over-compliance on the part of foreign businesses and suppliers, she added.

“These constitute serious impediments to the enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of health by all Iranians,” she stressed.

FB/MG