The rise in drug prices in Iran, ranging from 50 to 400 percent, has once again made headlines. What deeply concerns doctors is the long-term impact of the pharmaceutical sector’s instability on public health.
Many patients must pay for their medications out of pocket. Regarding “hard-to-treat diseases,” individuals register with the Social Security Organization, health services, or the National Health Fund. Once approved, they are “tagged” in the system, but the annual medication cost coverage is capped at 2 billion rials (approximately 2,100 dollars).
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical experts report that a single chemotherapy course can cost up to 10 billion rials (approximately 10,526 dollars).
The treatment protocol for a child with cancer can impose a financial burden of at least 100 million to 5 billion rials (approximately 1,052 to 10,526 dollars) and at most 10 to 30 billion rials (approximately 10,526 to 31,578 dollars) or even more over a three-to-five-year treatment period.
In Iran, One-Third of Patients Refrain from Purchasing Medication
Insurance organizations, including health services and social security, delay payments to pharmacies for up to six months. This has led some pharmacies to stop accepting insurance prescriptions altogether.
As a result, the heavy costs of medication fall on families, and in cases of life-threatening illnesses, this situation can cost patients their lives.
Official statistics, which only reveal part of the reality, indicate that since March 21, 2024, more than 2,500 hemophilia patients have lost their lives.
According to official reports, the number of new cancer cases in Iran stands at 141,641 per year, with approximately 390 new cases recorded daily.
Some cancer patients have stopped their treatment, saying, “Last year, we managed to obtain the medication somehow, but this year, we simply can’t afford it.”
Last year, the cost of a single course of treatment with the anti-cancer drug Venetoclax was around 900 million rials. However, the same drug now costs 1.9 billion rials (approximately 2,000 dollars), making it unaffordable for most families due to economic conditions.
It is worth noting that the minimum wage for a worker with two children in 2024 was approximately 116 dollars.
Even those willing to pay exorbitant prices to save their own lives or those of their loved ones are searching for medication online. This issue is not limited to specialized or new drugs; it also affects common medications.
Shortage of Essential Vaccines
Poor planning and officials blaming each other have made common vaccines, such as the flu shot, unavailable. Even vulnerable individuals and healthcare workers miss their vaccinations before the peak season of viral outbreaks.
The head of the Communicable Disease Control Center at the Ministry of Health stated that this year, only about 500,000 to 600,000 flu vaccines were distributed, some of which were domestically produced. According to specialists, there was little public demand for the Iranian-made vaccines.
Regarding COVID-19, while most countries provide updated vaccines for their citizens, in Iran, effective vaccines and antiviral pills from Pfizer are unavailable due to the policies of the Iranian regime.
Additionally, a significant portion of vaccines is being sold on the black market at prices three to four times higher than the official rate.
Government-Imposed Pricing and Decline in Domestic Production
While imported medications, particularly for serious illnesses and cancer, are scarce and highly expensive, pharmaceutical industry experts state that since drug pricing is controlled by the Ministry of Health and subject to “government-imposed pricing,” the prices of domestically produced medications do not adjust in line with the country’s inflation rate.
Pharmaceutical industry experts report that the Ministry of Health pressures the Food and Drug Organization to keep prices low. Consequently, with rising costs of raw materials—most of which are imported from countries like China—and other production expenses, profit margins have drastically shrunk. As a result, companies are facing financial losses, leading to a decline in domestic production.
Under these circumstances, the government occasionally grants temporary import permits for the same medications that are produced domestically, with most of these imports coming from India.
