A young man said to be suffering from a rare disease attends the
Fourth Iranian Congress on Rare Diseases. Tehran now says that
Western-imposed sanctions are so severe, that it cannot afford
the
medications he and other Iranian patients need.
U.S.-Led
Sanctions Hurt Patients with Rare Diseases (Kayhan,
Islamic Republic of Iran)
While
insisting on a daily basis that Iran is ably weathering sanctions that have
been imposed by much of the rest of the world, this news item on a lack of
medications for rare diseases shows just how painful the sanctions actually
are. According to this article from Iran's state-controlled Kayhan, which quotes state-run Press
TV, while humanitarian exceptions to the sanctions allow for the purchase
of medicines, the crackdown on Iran's banking system means the country cannot
afford them.
TEHRAN: A shortage of medication resulting from illegal
U.S.-engineered sanctions have left Iranian patients
suffering rare diseases in dire straits. Because of the sanctions imposed by America and its
allies, certain medicines are no longer imported into the country, thus
endangering patients' lives.
“My son has had a disease called Cystinosis
since he was four months old. It is a genetically-inherited malady. He has to
go to have kidney dialysis three times a week. Now his kidneys are failing and
he needs a transplant. His kidney failure has caused his bones to start to grow
crookedly,” one Iranian citizen told Press TV.
Another negative impact of unilateral U.S. sanctions is
that medicines that can be imported into the country are extremely expensive.
“Both of my sons have Type II MPS (Mucopolysaccharidosis).
We learned of the disease about three years ago. My sons each must have two
shots of medicine a week for the rest of their lives. In 2010, the price was
$5,800 per shot. I just can't afford it,” another Iranian said.
Meanwhile, the 4th International Congress on the Occassion of Rare Diseases Day
has just been held in the Iranian capital city, Tehran.
“The foremost goal of this Congress is to assist
patients. People with rare diseases are considered to be in critical need. Our
aim is to ensure we are up to date on all types of rare diseases and how to
treat them,” Ali Davoudian, director of the Iranian
Congress on Rare Diseases, told Press TV.
Although the U.S.-engineered sanctions do not directly
target medicines, importing these items from abroad has become almost
impossible as a result of the restrictions on the banking system, which is unable to
transfer the needed currency.
“The sanctions that have been forced on us have hurt many
people in need of medicine. Some have lost their lives,” Davoudian
pointed out.
Imports from American and European drug makers in 2012
was down by an estimated 30 percent since 2011, and they continue to fall.
Even if in theory, sanctions imposed by the United States
and European Union are supposed to allow humanitarian trade, in fact it impairs
the delivery of drugs and medical equipment to Iran.
To facilitate humanitarian trade, there is a blanket
waiver on sanctions in this area, but other laws the restrict financial
transactions make it impossible to implement these exceptions. So while trade
in medical supplies is legal in theory, it is virtually impossible in practice,
because Iran cannot afford the Western medicines it needs.
One problem is that when sanctions were tightened in
2012, Iran’s capacity to sell oil was further constrained and its main source
of hard currency restricted. Another problem is that Iran’s main banking
infrastructure - including the Central Bank of Iran and Bank Tejarat, Iran’s main trading bank, have been blacklisted by
Washington.
