Iranian Lawmaker Says Even Ordinary Medicines Are Scarce Now

A member of parliament says the shortage and high prices of medicines in Iran are not limited to certain drugs anymore, and very common medications are also scarce and expensive.

Homayoon Sameh Yeh Najafabadi, who is a member of the parliament's health committee, told ILNA on Wednesday that “today medicine has become very scarce in the country, not special medicines but very ordinary medicines. Therefore, people have to go to several pharmacies for one prescription”.

Criticizing those who claimed to be able to control the prices of medicines, he added that the Health Ministry should have devised a detailed plan for controlling the prices before submitting the budget bill to parliament.

Many officials from the Health Ministry appeared before the parliament and said there would be no problem with the high cost of medicines because the insurance companies would cover the higher in prices, and that there won’t be any pressure on patients once subsidy for imports of essential goods are eliminated, Najafabadi said.

The lawmaker said in addition to medicines, the prices of wheat, flour and bread have also increased, expressing hope that the government has a plan in this regard.

In March, the parliament decided to scrap an annual $9-14 billion subsidy for essential food and medicines, despite warnings of more inflation and hardship.

The subsidy was introduced in April 2018 when former US president Donald Trump signaled his intention to withdraw from the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran known as JCPOA, and Iran’s national currency began to nosedive.