US sanctions on Iran killing children with EB: NGO

[raptor22]

US sanctions on Iran killing children with EB: NGO

Iranian children suffering from a rare skin condition known as EB are losing their lives as US economic sanctions hamper the flow of vital medical products, an NGO says. Hamid Reza Hashemi-Golayegani, the head of the NGO that helps such patients, said Sunday that at least 15 Iranian children with epidermolysis bullosa (EB) have died since the US launched its new sanctions on Iran in August.


That is because Swedish medical companies which provided protective bandages for such patients have halted supplies due to the restrictions, he said.

Often known as butterfly children because their skin is as fragile as the wings of a butterfly, EB patients need special care. Even mild frictions or bumps cause severe blistering of the skin which is very painful.

They often have difficulty with their daily activities, such as walking, eating and even breathing, but without proper protective bandages, their agony would be heartbreaking.

The trade of humanitarian goods, such as food, medicine and medical devices, is on paper allowed by the US, still European companies refuse to do business with Iran, fearing secondary American sanctions.

Since the reimposition of sanctions, Swedish medical products firm Molnlycke Health Care has stopped delivering Mepilex dressings which are trusted around the world to treat a wide range of chronic and acute wounds, including in EB patients, Iranian media reports say.

"EB patients are in desperate need of this dressing and unfortunately there is no alternative treatment for them," Hashemi said, calling on related international bodies to convince the US into exempting food and medicine from its illegal sanctions on Iran.

Last year, President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and unleashed the "toughest ever" sanctions against Tehran.

Washington claims the sanctions target the government, but ordinary Iranians are the ones who suffer the most.

Last November, the Islamic Republic of Iran Medical Council (IRIMC) said illegal economic sanctions have negative impacts on the country's health sector.

In a tweet in early March 2019, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that 66 Iranian scientific medical societies had written to the UN chief in condemnation of the "inhumane and medieval" American sanctions targeting Iran's health sector.

Scholars, scientists and academics of 66 Iranian scientific societies highlighted that the unilateral US bans have "deliberately targeted" patients, healthcare sectors, academic research centers, healthcare providers, medical equipment suppliers, active pharmaceutical ingredients providers, pharmaceutical equipment suppliers and heath regulators.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) - the principal judicial organ of the United Nations - ordered the US in October 2018 to halt the unilateral sanctions it had reimposed on "humanitarian" supplies to Iran.

 

[QWECXZ]

I blame Rouhani for this. Purchasing the necessary medical products in the black market (even if double the original price) is not something impossible to do and it doesn't cost the government much to do this.

Rouhani is by far the worst president Iran has had after the revolution. The air pollution index has reached 200 in many areas of Tehran but the idiot has not called a day off for air pollution since when he took office. At least Ahmadinejad cared about people's health.

 

[AZ1]

I blame Rouhani for this. Purchasing the necessary medical products in the black market (even if double the original price) is not something impossible to do and it doesn't cost the government much to do this.

Rouhani is by far the worst president Iran has had after the revolution. The air pollution index has reached 200 in many areas of Tehran but the idiot has not called a day off for air pollution since when he took office. At least Ahmadinejad cared about people's health.

How air is polluted in Iran?

 

[QWECXZ]

How air is polluted in Iran?

Tehran has been experiencing an air pollution period this week (the air quality index in some parts of the city are above 150). They're waiting for rain to reduce the air pollution (which is apparently supposed to happen on Friday). Air pollution in Tehran, which is surrounded by mountains, is a recurring phenomenon during the cold days of autumn and winter because of inversion.

Previously when air pollution got high (like higher than 150), Ahmadinejad's Ministry of Education called schools off. And when it hit 200, the government called a day off to reduce the air pollution. Rouhani has never done that.

 

[AZ1]

Tehran has been experiencing an air pollution period this week (the air quality index in some parts of the city are above 150). They're waiting for rain to reduce the air pollution (which is apparently supposed to happen on Friday).

Previously when air pollution got high (like higher than 150), Ahmadinejad's Ministry of Education called schools off. And when it hit 200, the government called a day off to reduce the air pollution. Rouhani has never done that.

Thank you just one question what making this air pollution? like coal plants?

 

[QWECXZ]

Thank you just one question what making this air pollution? like coal plants?

Well, the main pollutant is particulates under 2.5 microns. They say motor vehicles are responsible for it but it's also about the geography of Tehran. Tehran is surrounded by mountains. So, the pollution stays over Tehran unless there's wind or rain. And it gets bad in winters because of inversion.

 

[masterchief_mirza]

Shocking!

 

[vi-va]

I blame Rouhani for this. Purchasing the necessary medical products in the black market (even if double the original price) is not something impossible to do and it doesn't cost the government much to do this.

Rouhani is by far the worst president Iran has had after the revolution. The air pollution index has reached 200 in many areas of Tehran but the idiot has not called a day off for air pollution since when he took office. At least Ahmadinejad cared about people's health.

Imo, Rouhani or Ahmadinejad are two sides of one coin. Tehren is playing with the Americans, fool them around. While Americans play the same good cops, bad cops game.

I am not familiar with Tehren internal politics, but I think they knew their business. Otherwise, you guys failed decades ago.

 

[zectech]

I blame Rouhani for this. Purchasing the necessary medical products in the black market (even if double the original price) is not something impossible to do and it doesn't cost the government much to do this.

Rouhani is by far the worst president Iran has had after the revolution. The air pollution index has reached 200 in many areas of Tehran but the idiot has not called a day off for air pollution since when he took office. At least Ahmadinejad cared about people's health.

Simply do what the Chinese do for everything, reverse engineer the product.

Back in the day when I worked for an American-owned Corporation, we were reverse engineering products. There is no shame in 'stealing the product' in Iran, the West does this and does not tell anybody in the media. The American-owned corporation was reverse engineering from a jewish-owned corporation. They did this out in the open and the jewish corporation knew what was going on.

More sanctions for Iran saving childrens' lives in making bandages? How are they going to hurt Iran more.

 

[Path-Finder]

Back in the day when I worked for an American-owned Corporation, we were reverse engineering products.

food for thought.

 

[QWECXZ]

Imo, Rouhani or Ahmadinejad are two sides of one coin. Tehren is playing with the Americans, fool them around. While Americans play the same good cops, bad cops game.

I am not familiar with Tehren internal politics, but I think they knew their business. Otherwise, you guys failed decades ago.

I don't see how local affairs are related to playing with the Americans. Not having called a single day off because of high air pollution and not buying medical products from black market have nothing to do with the US or foreign policies or I can't see the relevance at least.

Simply do what the Chinese do for everything, reverse engineer the product.

Back in the day when I worked for an American-owned Corporation, we were reverse engineering products. There is no shame in 'stealing the product' in Iran, the West does this and does not tell anybody in the media. The American-owned corporation was reverse engineering from a jewish-owned corporation. They did this out in the open and the jewish corporation knew what was going on.

More sanctions for Iran saving childrens' lives in making bandages? How are they going to hurt Iran more.

Children or patients with extremely rare conditions will always suffer from sanctions that target them. The problem is not that Iran can't reverse-engineer medical products or produces them on its own, the problem is that the number of patients with extremely rare conditions like EB is too few to justify anything but buying the products.

You can't run a production line for something which the demand for it is too low to justify it economically. The best option is to buy it from black market for higher prices. Something that Ahmadinejad did it very well.

 

[vi-va]

I don't see how local affairs are related to playing with the Americans. Not having called a single day off because of high air pollution and not buying medical products from black market have nothing to do with the US or foreign policies or I can't see the relevance at least.


Children or patients with extremely rare conditions will always suffer from sanctions that target them. The problem is not that Iran can't reverse-engineer medical products or produces them on its own, the problem is that the number of patients with extremely rare conditions like EB is too few to justify anything but buying the products.

You can't run a production line for something which the demand for it is too low to justify it economically. The best option is to buy it from black market for higher prices. Something that Ahmadinejad did it very well.

Where did you get the exact info that your government did NOT buy medical products from black market? You don't need black market, China will sell the medical to you without any problem.

You can blame your government with solid facts, not some NGO report. Those NGO lack credibility.

If you fallen into their trap, and turn your anger to your government, good, a Syria chaos will be in front of you guys.

 

[QWECXZ]

Where did you get the exact info that your government did NOT buy medical products from black market? You don't need black market, China will sell the medical to you without any problem.

You can blame your government with solid facts, not some NGO report. Those NGO lack credibility.

If you fallen into their trap, and turn your anger to your government, good, a Syria chaos will be in front of you guys.

You don't have a clue about what you're talking about.

First of all, China doesn't sell us medical products because your companies and banks are too afraid of US secondary sanctions and they comply with OFAC sanctions. Secondly, we are not interested in Chinese medical products because most Chinese products that have entered Iran in recent decades have been of low quality and people do not trust their health with low quality products. It's not like shirts, underwear or shoes that people say "f*ck it, at least it's cheap". As a matter of fact, we have a ban on Chinese and Indian pharmaceuticals due to that very reason but that's beside the point. Thirdly, Iran produces 97% of medical products that we need domestically.

The remaining 3% is about medical products that do not have enough consumers to make it economically viable and justified to produce it locally. EB is one of those rare cases. And there are few companies in the world who produce these commercial medicines. Most of them happen to be in the US or Western Europe. We're not talking about some generic medicines. We are talking about things that only one or two companies can produce with very few customers with special needs and they're patented products.

Also, thanks for your concern about Iran but first of all, comparing Iran to Syria is a joke and secondly you'd better give that advice to your fellow Chinese people protesting in the autonomous region of Hong Kong for weeks.

And if Rouhani were doing his job properly we wouldn't have seen reports like this in Iranian newspapers. And I am sure that these reports are true because Rouhani has showed nothing but incompetency and carelessness during his 6 years of presidency and I can't wait for him to leave the office.

 

[vi-va]

You don't have a clue about what you're talking about.

First of all, China doesn't sell us medical products because your companies and banks are too afraid of US secondary sanctions and they comply with OFAC sanctions. Secondly, we are not interested in Chinese medical products because most Chinese products that have entered Iran in recent decades have been of low quality and people do not trust their health with low quality products. It's not like shirts, underwear or shoes that people say "f*ck it, at least it's cheap". As a matter of fact, we have a ban on Chinese and Indian pharmaceuticals due to that very reason but that's beside the point. Thirdly, Iran produces 97% of medical products that we need domestically.

The remaining 3% is about medical products that do not have enough consumers to make it economically viable and justified to produce it locally. EB is one of those rare cases. And there are few companies in the world who produce these commercial medicines. Most of them happen to be in the US or Western Europe. We're not talking about some generic medicines. We are talking about things that only one or two companies can produce with very few customers with special needs and they're patented products.

Also, thanks for your concern about Iran but first of all, comparing Iran to Syria is a joke and secondly you'd better give that advice to your fellow Chinese people protesting in the autonomous region of Hong Kong for weeks.

And if Rouhani were doing his job properly we wouldn't have seen reports like this in Iranian newspapers. And I am sure that these reports are true because Rouhani has showed nothing but incompetency and carelessness during his 6 years of presidency and I can't wait for him to leave the office.

IC. If you can NOT get the 3% medical products, live with it. Nothing is perfect. It's not your government fault to be banned, it's your enemy's fault.

I think many countries import pharmaceuticals from India, it's much cheaper and quality should be ok if your custom did their job.

I am not comparing Iran with Syria. I am talking about the mentality. Nothing is perfect, if you don't like it, live with it.

Iran can have a much better economy if she cooperate with the West like Arabs. Your government choose the hard way, worth it or not depends on what you are looking for.

China choose the hard way also, we had went through and sacrificed a lot. China government can take the short cut and apply western democracy like India, and as lame as India too.

I have no hostility toward Iran or you. Actually I admire Iran's courage personally. China can produce high quality products with premium price tag.

 

[masterchief_mirza]

The remaining 3% is about medical products that do not have enough consumers to make it economically viable and justified to produce it locally. EB is one of those rare cases. A

Yep. Niche market.