Iran Press/ Commentary: On the occasion of the World Day of Thalassemia on Monday, May 8, Younes Arab said that over 80 percent of the medicines needed by thalassemic patients are produced within the country but some of the patients need to take foreign-made brands due to their bodies' resistance to the treatment, therefore they would face with difficulties.
In recent years, the Iranian authorities time and again warned about the deleterious consequences of the US sanctions on the Iranian people's health, including the special patients, and that the sanctions cause the daily death of patients, including those suffering thalassemia; the death toll in the last year indicates an increasing trend: 70 in 2018, 90 in 2019, 140 in 2020, and 180 in 2021.
The Western countries, led by the US, claim that medicines have never been included in the sanction list, but in fact, they sanction the banks, block money exchange channels, and hinder financial transactions such that providing drugs for people with incurable diseases becomes impossible.
So, the sanctions put tens of thousands of lives in the world, including those patients with thalassemia, cancer, and EB in jeopardy in Iran.
The Chairman of Iran's Food and Drug Administration Heidar Mohammadi says: "Representatives of some sanctioning companies declare that they do not sanction, but when it comes to Iran's demands for meeting its medical needs, they either leave the demand unanswered the requests, or refuse to send medicine, or delay the response for several months and finally deliver a limited amount of medicine to us."
The experts of the UN Human Rights Council also have found out that the US has limited Iran's access to vital drugs and in a way punish the Iranians. The UN's special rapporteurs say when it comes to the right to health, one can see that Iranian patients are sanctioned at all levels.
The performance of the pharmaceutical companies in the world shows they have difficulty with sending drugs to thalassemic patients, due to their fear of being punished by the US.
Novartis company in Swiss and Roquette Frères in France have been banned from sending drugs to Iran and Molnlycke of Sweden refuses to send Iran special bandages for EB patients.
It is obvious that the US unilateral sanctions on Iran and the conformity of other countries with the American administration in the sanctions have brought negative consequences for the people's health to the extent that has caused the death of many patients; another instance of human rights violation across the world by the US and its allies.
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