Iranian MP Blames Regime For Medicine Shortages

An Iranian MP has decried the government's neglect of the dire medicine shortages rocking the country.

Salman Es’haghi, Spokesperson of the Parliament’s Health Commission, highlighted the detrimental consequences, including an alarming rise in patient mortality rates.

He asserted that “despite the critical shortages, the Central Bank has refused to allocate the necessary currency for drugs,” placing domestic pharmaceutical producers in a challenging situation regarding pricing and currency allocation.

The parliament had approved the government's decision to discontinue an annual subsidy of $9-14 billion for essential food and medicines in March last year, despite concerns about heightened inflation and hardships.

The subsequent shortages have severely affected Iran's pharmaceutical industry, which heavily relies on government funding for importing raw materials.

Shortages of imported ingredients have disrupted medicine production, leaving approximately 200 types of common medicines and hospital drugs scarce or unavailable, according to local media reports.

Es’haghi underscored that repeated warnings about the drug crisis have been issued to the government by the health commission. Nevertheless, the government's lack of attention has exacerbated the situation.

In the previous Iranian year, the medicine crisis intensified, driving people to the black market for smuggled medicines due to soaring prices and unavailability of many essential items.

While Iranian officials often attribute medicine shortages to United States sanctions, Washington maintains that humanitarian aid is exempt from sanctions. Iran annually imports over $1.5 billion worth of medicines, including substantial quantities from Europe, China, and India.

There are also speculations that the Iranian government may exploit the psychological effects of these shortages to influence foreign perceptions and further exhaust a populace already fatigued by months of revolutionary fervor.