Unilateral US sanctions taking toll on thalassemia patients in Iran: UN experts

United Nations experts have denounced the unilateral US sanctions against Iran, which have considerably reduced access of thalassemia patients to vital medicine, causing a number of deaths.

According to Press TV, this was revealed in a report published by Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, and Obiora C. Okafor, independent expert on human rights and international solidarity, on Tuesday.

“Since the re-imposition of sanctions against Iran by the US in 2018, over-compliance with sanctions has escalated, affecting the import of life-saving iron-regulating medicines for Iranian thalassemia patients," read the report by UN experts.

"This not only violates their right to health but also results in increased complications and mortality rates."

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that causes the body to have less hemoglobin than normal. Hemoglobin enables red blood cells to carry oxygen. The disease afflicts people from birth and requires specialized medication to eliminate overload during blood transfusions.

“The lack of access to the medication has resulted in many more deaths,” the experts stressed.

According to the experts, the supply of required medications from the Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis, which is the leading supplier, and key ingredients for these medicines produced by the French company Roquette Frères has been denied to Iran.

The United States under former President Donald Trump reinstated crippling sanctions on Iran after unilaterally walking out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018, despite Tehran's full compliance with the terms of the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). 

The sanctions have been choking up the financial channels that could be used for providing Iran with essential medicine, material, or medical equipment.

Although Washington and its Western allies claim that humanitarian goods are exempted from sanctions, tens of thousands of patients in Iran have over the years died or developed critical ailments due to the unavailability of essential drugs. 

ME