Amid growing concerns over a new wave of rising healthcare costs in Iran, Salman Es’haghi, spokesman for the Health Committee of Iran’s regime Majlis (parliament), said that by removing the state-subsidized exchange rate for medicine in the new year, the government is effectively killing its own people.
In an interview with ILNA, a state-affiliated news agency, on Sunday, April 20, Es’haghi said: “The government must refrain from killing its people. I am saying this seriously—if the state-subsidized exchange rate is removed from medicine, equipment, and medical supplies, the government will be killing its own people.”
Es’haghi added: “We will witness people’s desperation and helplessness in the healthcare sector. Since treatment costs will increase by 20 to 30 times, people will certainly avoid seeking medical care, and we will face a situation similar to the COVID pandemic, which led to the death of many people.”
Pharmacists and Doctors Concerned Over the Impact of Rising Drug Prices and Shortages in Iran
He continued: “Today, 80% of healthcare expenses are paid out of the patient’s pocket, and only 20% is covered by insurance, and even that is paid with delays.”
Ali Akbar Eyvazi, secretary of the Tehran Social Security Pensioners Association, stated on April 17: “Medicine and treatment have become a serious issue, and drug prices are so high that even the insurance companies cannot cover them.”
Eyvazi pointed out that hospitals violently eject patients who cannot afford hospitalization costs, throwing them out onto the streets, and said that the situation regarding medicine and healthcare is becoming even more critical.
On another front, Akbar Abdollahi-Asl, acting head of the General Department of Medicine and Controlled Substances, announced that the Central Bank is refusing to provide the necessary foreign currency for medicine imports, predicting that the medicine shortage will quadruple in the next two months.
Earlier, on April 13, Mehdi Pirsalehi, head of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration, announced that the 42,000 rial per USD exchange rate used for importing medical equipment has been removed, and replaced by a rate of 285,000 rials per USD—an increase of sevenfold.
Mohammad Jamalian, another member of the Health Committee of the regime’s Majlis, also stated on April 12 that the price of some medications in the country has doubled or tripled, and there is a “severe shortage” of about 150 items.
On April 5, Mohammad Jamalian, a regime’s Majlis member also remarked that due to economic problems, healthcare has turned into a national security issue in Iran. He said: “A person who is searching for medicine and cannot find it may take dangerous actions.”
He added: “When a father or mother is searching for medicine for their child, or a child is looking for medicine for their parents and cannot find it or afford it, we must accept that such a person may resort to any dangerous act.”
