Iran is expected to be hit with medical supply shortages should the war continue, the UN warned on Friday, with experts adding that the impact of the conflict will potentially be felt for years.
Cristhian Cortez Cardoza, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said that the “intense conflict†will continue to be felt by Iranian society “for months and years to come.â€
The disrupted supply chain has also meant that the factory responsible for supplying 60% of the country's dialysis filters only has enough raw materials to continue production for the next three months, with an unknown number of filters reportedly already destroyed in medical facilities hit by strikes.
The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has also hampered supply chains, Iranian hospital officials told Reuters. The chief of Tehran's Ebnesina Hospital claimed they are already experiencing shortages of hypertension and chemotherapy drugs due to halted air cargo operations.
“In my opinion, we have only two months' [worth of] medication in storage,†he claimed.
Iran begins importing aid
Iran has already begun importing aid. On April 10, the Red Cross transferred medical and humanitarian supplies from Turkey to Iran, claiming that such supplies were urgently needed after heavy bombardment. An additional six aid trucks set off last week.
Tehran was already struggling to pay its substantive debts to pharmacies – estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars – according to media coverage of a letter sent by Iran's Pharmaceutical Association to the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council last year.
Iran International, citing citizen complaints, published last week that the cost of medication was becoming increasingly difficult for Iranians to afford. The price of Xgeva, a drug used for bone cancer, rose from 15 million rials to 420 m. rials in two months, and some types of insulin have reportedly inflated to 70 m. rials.
INSS Iran program researcher Beni Sabti, who was born in Iran and escaped in 1987, told The Jerusalem Post that the regime's disregard for human life meant that civilian suffering was unlikely to play a factor in whether it comes to an agreement with Washington.
Noting that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tehran deprived Iranian citizens of the Pfizer vaccine, favoring a Chinese alternative with no connection to Israel, Sabti predicted the regime would be unmoved by the avoidable deaths.
What may gain the regime's attention is a return to protests, he continued, which would likely recommence if there were shortages of medicine, food, and electricity. “They are waiting to see what is happening with this war,†he said, explaining why protests have yet to restart.
While the regime may seek to blame Israel and the US, as will those sympathetic to it in the West, Sabti asserted that the Iranian people's support for the war would be unshaken by the medical crisis.
“Iranian people supported the war. They want to end this regime, and they are very surprised that it stopped in the middle,†he explained. “So for them, they are waiting for us to finish the job, and they don't care if they have to suffer a little bit or even die… just finishing the job, this is the most important thing for them.â€
The war has also had a costly impact in the West, where The Guardian reported countries like the UK were anticipating shortages of syringes, intravenous bags, and gloves. England's National Health Service has reportedly begun stocking up on items produced with petrochemicals, predicting the looming shortages.
Japan has also announced plans to tap into pandemic reserves, fearing that the war may lead to shortages, and suppliers have started employing purchasing restrictions to ensure that supplies remain steady. Despite countries across the globe bracing for potential supply issues, a spokesperson for Israel's Health Ministry told the Post that they were not currently anticipating any shortages.
