Iran medicine shortages worsened by war

Sanctions, currency volatility and long-running pressure on insurers have made medical treatment hard to access in Iran for years. Now, the war launched by the US and Israel appears to have deepened the strain by disrupting regional supply routes, damaging parts of Iran's health infrastructure and adding fresh pressure to an already fragile pharmaceutical market. The results are affecting everyday life for many Iranians: from patients searching multiple pharmacies for medicine to doctors watchin

For a country like Iran, which depends on imported raw materials and foreign-made medicines for part of its pharmaceutical system, delays and higher transport costs quickly feed into domestic shortages and price rises. Transport, however, is only part of the problem. Even when medicines are technically exempt from sanctions, banking and payment restrictions can still make procurement slow, complicated and expensive. That financial choke point has affected Iran's pharmaceutical sector for years. In wartime, it becomes even more damaging. Rising prices, disrupted supply chains, damaged infrastructure and shrinking purchasing power are reinforcing one another. Iranian officials have tried to project calm, arguing that strategic reserves and domestic production have prevented a full-scale collapse. But the picture described by patients, doctors and industry figures is more troubling. Hadi Ahmadi, a spokesperson for the Iranian Pharmacists Association, has warned that the war could create new shortages in materials needed for pharmaceutical production, including aluminum and petrochemical inputs. Even where medicine stock still exists, future manufacturing may become harder if industrial feedstocks and packaging materials grow scarce. Can Iran control flow of data along with flow of oil? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The impact is already visible in clinics and pharmacies.

Key points

• For a country like Iran, which depends on imported raw materials and foreign-made medicines for part of its pharmaceutical system, delays and higher transport costs quickly feed into domestic short…
• Transport, however, is only part of the problem.
• Even when medicines are technically exempt from sanctions, banking and payment restrictions can still make procurement slow, complicated and expensive.
• That financial choke point has affected Iran's pharmaceutical sector for years.
• In wartime, it becomes even more damaging.