Iranian doctors complain about lack of anticancer drugs.

Abbas Kebriazadeh, a professor of pharmacy science at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, has been writing for more than 10 years that his colleagues are fighting with Iranian doctors to protect their patients from the complications of US sanctions. "We have studied the effects of sanctions on the health sector in Iran and recommended better remedies for our government.The damage done to Iranian patients has not proved to be a myth."

Economic sanctions
He added that the current interconnected world depends on the banking systems and commercial networks dominated by the United States. As a result, the US government can use economic sanctions to undermine economic, political, and even social relations in targeted countries to varying degrees.

Although US sanctions are designed so as not to target food and drugs, the author argues that the reality is that they are used as a tool for economic warfare. Officials in Washington continue to insist on maintaining "exemptions" from sanctions in order to protect humanitarian trade, even after the International Court of Justice said the exemptions were inadequate, leaving "only a few exceptions". hope of improvement "as to" devastating effects on health ". And the life of Iranian individuals.

pharmaceuticals
Last year, several pediatric oncologists published in The Lancet a note showing that chemotherapy drugs such as asparaginase, mercaptoporine for leukemia and even paracetamol, a primary analgesic, have been depleted, threatening to treat thousands of children. Access to these drugs has been seriously hindered by US sanctions against Iran.

Children
He noted that children with cancer were of particular concern. Faced with these disruptions in imports, opportunists have begun to smuggle low-quality counterfeit medicines into Iran via routes from Pakistan and Turkey. If the condition worsens, it may also result in the introduction of counterfeit or non-pure ingredients into locally manufactured medicines, which will only lead to medications of poor quality and to poor quality. new risks to public health.

The impact of sanctions on the Iranian economy is hurting health care providers and consumers by limiting the power of purchase, he said. The low incomes of the Iranian government and its reduced access to foreign currencies also weigh on health expenditure.

According to data from the Central Bank of Iran, the cost of health care in Iran has increased by about 20% between November 2017 and November 2018.
He warned that the fall in production would lead to unemployment. The Iranian Pharmaceutical Industry Association estimates that pharmaceutical manufacturers employ about 25,000 people, while 100,000 work in distribution companies and pharmacies. About 20% of employees are university graduates. Their future is at stake.