News Report: The paper "Covid-19 battle during the toughest sanctions against Iran" was published in The Lancet journal Viruses don't discriminate so shouldn't humans
Dr. Takian, vice director of health equity research center, with the help of his colleagues published a paper titled “Covid-19 battle during the toughest sanctions against Iran” in The Lancet journal.
Since the spread of Covid-19 in most countries, the consequences of sanctions have created numerous problems for our country’s health system in responding to this pandemic. Therefore, the academics, along with their other responsibilities, have taken it upon themselves to alert international activists of health and politics about the consequences of sanctions.Dr. Takian on the publication of this paper in the Lancet, one of the most credited medical journals, on March 17,2020: “the Covid-19 pandemic has had severe consequences in our country. The existing evidence clarifies that the unjust sanctions imposed by the USA, which started in May, have also had negative impacts on our health system. He continued by remarking the considerable burden of Covid-19 for many countries that might be unprecedented in the recent decades: “the spread of this virus has highlighted the shortage of some drugs and medical supplies. Although our colleagues’ efforts in the healthcare system, specially in healthcare centers on the front lines of battle, to control and lessen the consequences of this pandemic have been fruitful, due to the unjust sanctions, their burden’s been multiplied and many of our healthcare colleagues, along with our dear citizens, have lost their lives on this path.
He added: “Event though its said that sanctions don’t include medicine and medical supplies, because of numerous complications in financing purchases and trading goods with most countries, some essential drugs, medical supplies and PPEs used by front line healthcare workers aren’t adequately available and the lives of these dear care givers are at risk. The associate professor and school of public health’s global health and policy making group’s director, by noting that its the academics’ responsibility as the activists of health sector to voice this oppression added: “the sanctions must be lifted so that Iran can provide the needed medicine and medical supplies for its healthcare workforce to battle Covid-19 by means of international trading and accessing its international financial resource.
Abstract
Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly throughout the world. WHO declared the outbreak a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. In Iran, the first official announcement of deaths from COVID-19 was made on Feb 19, 2020. As of March 16, 2020, 14 991 people have been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2, and 853 people have died from COVID-19. 4996 people have recovered.
The economic loss caused by the spread of COVID-19 in Iran coincides with the ever-highest politically induced sanctions against the country. Although various sanctions have been in place for the past four decades, since May, 2018, the unilateral sanctions imposed by the USA against Iran have increased dramatically to an almost total economic lock-down, which includes severe penalties for non-US companies conducting business with Iran. The Iranian health sector, although among the most resilient in the region, has been affected as a consequence. All aspects of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment are directly and indirectly hampered, and the country is falling short in combating the crisis. Lack of medical, pharmaceutical, and laboratory equipment such as protective gowns and necessary medication has been scaling up the burden of the epidemic and the number of casualties. Despite WHO and other international humanitarian organizations dispatching supplies and medical necessities, the speed of the outbreak and the detrimental effects of sanctions have resulted reduced access to life-saving medicines and equipment, adding to the health sector’s pre-existing requirements for other difficult health conditions. It is shameful that besides the lives lost to this deadly virus, extreme sanctions limit access to necessary materials and therefore kill even more Iranian people.
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