Outcome | Negative impact on Iranians' right to health, education, and other human rights aspects |
---|---|
Deaths | Approximately 30 Iranian patients with EB —mostly children [1] A haemophilic teenage boy [2] |
Accused | U.S. sanctions against Iran |
The United States sanctions against Iran have had negative humanitarian impacts on Iranian society. [3] Due to the broad nature of the sanctions, Iranians' right to health, education, and other human rights aspects have been adversely impacted. U.S. secondary sanctions have led to "over-compliance" by some companies. [4] Sanctions have had an impact on people's life in addition to the availability of drugs. [5] More people have reportedly died as a result of the sanctions than from the US-Iraq war in Iran. [6]
Children with epidermolysis bullosa, also known as butterfly kids, haemophilics and people with HIV disease are among the most affected vulnerable groups. U.S. sanctions have also hindered Iran's ability to combat the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 1979, the United States has imposed various sanctions on economic, trade, scientific and military aspects against Iran. The U.S. sanctions against Iran include an embargo on dealings with the country by the U.S., and a ban on selling aircraft and repair parts to Iranian aviation companies. [7]
The U.S. sanctions against Iran are accompanied by negative humanitarian impacts. [8] [3] According to international law, the United States must assess the impact of its sanctions on Iranians' rights and address any breaches caused by sanctions. Because of the vast network of US sanctions, banks and firms have withdrawn from humanitarian trade with Iran, leaving Iranians with rare or severe diseases unable to obtain the medicine and treatments needed. [9]
According to Alena Douhan, the U.N. special rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, the groups including "[people with] severe diseases, disabled people, Afghan refugees, women-led households and children" are adversely affected by the measures. She added that "sanctions have been substantially exacerbating the humanitarian situation in Iran." [3]
Pharmaceuticals and medical equipment do not fall under international sanctions, but Iran is facing shortages of drugs for the treatment of 30 illnesses—including cancer, heart and breathing problems, thalassemia and multiple sclerosis (MS)—because it is not allowed to use international payment systems. [10] According to a survey by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, drug imports to Iran from the United States and Europe declined by around 30% in 2012. [11]
In 2013, the Guardian stated that over 85,000 cancer patients required rare forms of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Western governments had established exemptions within the sanctions regime to ensure that vital medications could get through, but these exemptions were in conflict with blanket banking restrictions and limits on "dual-use" chemicals that may have both a medical and a military function. [12]
The epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a severe and potentially fatal skin condition that causes excruciatingly painful wounds and is mostly seen in children, who are dubbed "butterfly kids" due to their delicate skin. [4] The skin sores for those with EB becomes so painful that the patients often compare their skin to third-degree burns. Speaking to Aljazeera, an Iranian EB patient compared the pain with "boiling water, drop by drop falling on your skin." [1] In spite of this, Mölnlycke Health Care, a Swedish company that manufactures, Mepilex absorbent foam dressing, [1] the bandages that are said to be the most effective therapy for their condition, has decided to stop shipments to Iran due to fears about secondary sanctions [13] as a result of over-compliance. [4] The Iranian Centre for International Criminal Law (ICICL), based in The Hague, stated in 2021 that approximately 30 Iranian patients with EB —mostly children—have died since Mölnlycke ceased selling its wound dressing to Iran. [1] In response to an inquiry by EB Home, an Iranian NGO that helped provide Iranian EB patients with the Swedish dressing, Molnlycke company stated in March 2019 that due to the U.S. sanctions it "decided not to conduct any business with relation to Iran for the time being". [1]
On 19 December 2019, the Iranian ambassador to the UN, Majid Takht Ravanchi, addressed the UN Security Council and mentioned a two-year-old girl, Ava who died due to EB, in his remarks:
"Nowadays, the importation of these special bandages for EBs has become almost impossible, endangering the lives of innocent children like Ava. Now butterflies are feeling the pain of the U.S. inhumane sanctions with their hearts and souls. In June this year, Ava was relieved of pain forever and passed away. Her story only reflects the tip of the iceberg, as children and adults with cancer and rare diseases are struggling in silence with death. Killing children and patients takes no courage!”
— [13]
Approximately 40,000 haemophilics were unable to obtain blood-clotting medications, and operations on haemophiliacs were effectively postponed due to the risks posed by the shortages. [12] A haemophilic teenage boy died from his illness as a result of a pharmaceutical shortage caused by the sanctions. [2]
An estimated 23,000 Iranians with HIV/AIDS had extremely limited access to the medications they require. The organization representing the 8,000 Iranians with thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder, reported that its members were starting to die given the lack of an essential medicine, deferoxamine, needed to regulate the iron content of the blood. In addition, Iran was unable to purchase medical equipment such as autoclaves, which are required for the creation of numerous medications, since some of the largest Western pharmaceutical corporations declined to carry out business with the country. [12]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, China, the United Kingdom, the Group of 77, and experts urged the United States to ease sanctions on Iran to assist it in combating the increasing coronavirus outbreak. [14] "There is no doubt that Iran’s capacity to respond to the novel coronavirus has been hampered by the Trump administration's economic sanctions, and the death toll is likely much higher than it would have been as a result," Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Co-director Mark Weisbrot said. He added that there was no doubt that the sanctions had hindered Iran's ability to contain the outbreak, resulting in more illnesses and potentially the virus' spreading outside the country's boundaries. [15]
The management of the COVID-19 crisis in Iran was made more complicated as a result of the sanctions consequences. [16] Human Rights Watch issued a statement on April 6, 2020 urging the US to ease sanctions against Iran so that Iran could have "access to crucial humanitarian resources during the [coronavirus] pandemic." [17]
Bloomberg reported in October 2020 that US sanctions had blocked the shipping of 2 million doses of influenza vaccination. The Red Crescent Society of Iran reported that the severe economic sanctions rendered the local Shahr Bank insolvent, thereby halting the vital cargo. [18]
Officially the AIDS-HIV pandemic came to Iraq via contaminated blood in 1986, with haemophiliacs being the primary victims. Over the decades, educational and treatment initiatives have been slowed by prevailing cultural values as well as severe economic hardships brought about by sanctions and war.
There have been a number of sanctions against Iran imposed by a number of countries, especially the United States, and international entities. Iran was the most sanctioned country in the world until it was surpassed by Russia following its invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.
The crisis in Venezuela is an ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis that began in Venezuela during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and has worsened in Nicolás Maduro's presidency. It has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation, disease, crime and mortality rates, resulting in massive emigration from the country.
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified in an outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. Attempts to contain it there failed, allowing the virus to spread to other areas of Asia and later worldwide in 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020. The WHO ended its PHEIC declaration on 5 May 2023; prior to this, some countries had already begun to regard COVID-19 as an endemic disease. As of 7 August 2023, the pandemic had caused 768,982,331 cases and 6,953,730 confirmed deaths, ranking it fifth in the deadliest epidemics and pandemics in history.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching consequences beyond the spread of the disease itself and efforts to quarantine it, including political, cultural, and social implications.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Iran has resulted in 7,612,935 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 146,311 deaths.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first two cases in Venezuela were confirmed on 13 March 2020; the first death was reported on 26 March. However, the first record of a patient claiming to have symptoms of coronavirus disease dates back to 29 February 2020, with government officials suspecting that the first person carrying the virus could have entered the country as early as 25 February.
The first confirmed case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen was announced on 10 April 2020 with an occurrence in Hadhramaut. Organizations called the news a "devastating blow" and a "nightmare scenario" given the country's already dire humanitarian situation.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Haiti is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Haiti in March 2020. The index case was in Port-au-Prince. As of 14 September 2021, there are 21,178 total confirmed cases, 1,184 active cases, about 32,000 suspected cases, with 591 deaths and 8,657 recoveries. Haiti has administered 50,624 doses of the COVID-19 vaccination.
This article documents the chronology of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Some developments may become known or fully understood only in retrospect. Reporting on this pandemic began in December 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted hospitals around the world. Many hospitals have scaled back or postponed non-emergency care. This has medical consequences for the people served by the hospitals, and it has financial consequences for the hospitals. Health and social systems across the globe are struggling to cope. The situation is especially challenging in humanitarian, fragile and low-income country contexts, where health and social systems are already weak. Health facilities in many places are closing or limiting services. Services to provide sexual and reproductive health care risk being sidelined, which will lead to higher maternal mortality and morbidity. The pandemic also resulted in the imposition of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in places such as California and New York for all public workers, including hospital staff.
This article documents the chronology of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Some developments may become known or fully understood only in retrospect. Reporting on this pandemic began in December 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted healthcare workers physically and psychologically. Healthcare workers are more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection than the general population due to frequent contact with infected individuals. Healthcare workers have been required to work under stressful conditions without proper protective equipment, and make difficult decisions involving ethical implications. Health and social systems across the globe are struggling to cope. The situation is especially challenging in humanitarian, fragile and low-income country contexts, where health and social systems are already weak. Services to provide sexual and reproductive health care risk being sidelined, which will lead to higher maternal mortality and morbidity.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had many impacts on global health beyond those caused by the COVID-19 disease itself. It has led to a reduction in hospital visits for other reasons. There have been 38 per cent fewer hospital visits for heart attack symptoms in the United States and 40 per cent fewer in Spain. The head of cardiology at the University of Arizona said, "My worry is some of these people are dying at home because they're too scared to go to the hospital." There is also concern that people with strokes and appendicitis are not seeking timely treatment. Shortages of medical supplies have impacted people with various conditions.
Although several medications have been approved in different countries as of April 2022, not all countries have these medications. Patients with mild to moderate symptoms who are in the risk groups can take nirmatrelvir/ritonavir or remdesivir, either of which reduces the risk of serious illness or hospitalization. In the US, the Biden Administration COVID-19 action plan includes the Test to Treat initiative, where people can go to a pharmacy, take a COVID test, and immediately receive free Paxlovid if they test positive.
The Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy is a large-enrollment clinical trial of possible treatments for people in the United Kingdom admitted to hospital with severe COVID-19 infection. The trial was later expanded to Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam. The trial has tested ten interventions on adults: eight repurposed drugs, one newly developed drug and convalescent plasma.
The United Nations response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been led by its Secretary-General and can be divided into formal resolutions at the General Assembly and at the Security Council (UNSC), and operations via its specialized agencies and chiefly the World Health Organization in the initial stages, but involving more humanitarian-oriented agencies as the humanitarian impact became clearer, and then economic organizations, like the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Labour Organization, and the World Bank, as the socioeconomic implications worsened.
Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are anti-malarial medications also used against some auto-immune diseases. Chloroquine, along with hydroxychloroquine, was an early experimental treatment for COVID-19. Neither drug prevents SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The United States' response to the COVID-19 pandemic with consists of various measures by the medical community; the federal, state, and local governments; the military; and the private sector. The public response has been highly polarized, with partisan divides being observed and a number of concurrent protests and unrest complicating the response.
Maximum pressure campaign refers to the intensified sanctions against Iran by the Trump administration after the United States exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018. The campaign was aimed at pressuring Iran to renegotiate the JCPOA, adding more restrictions on Iran's nuclear program and expanding the scope of the agreement to cover Iran's ballistic missiles as well as other regional activities. This strategy was faced by Iran's counter pressure policy to thwart the U.S. maximum pressure campaign.