Impact of sanctions on procurement of medicine and medical devices in Iran; a technical response.

Following recent sanctions on foreign trade, financial and banking services, Iran has faced major difficulties for importing medicines (both finished products and pharmaceutical raw materials) and medical devices. Problems with money transfer have made it extremely lengthy in time to import medicine and medical devices and these have negatively affected access to and affordability of medicines. Quality of pharmaceuticals and treatment of patients have also been affected due to changing the sources of imported medicines and raw materials for locally produced pharmaceuticals. Several interventions have been employed during the past few months in Iran to overcome the effects imposed by recent sanctions and drug shortages have been managed to some extent with attempts made by Iran Food and Drug Organization (IRI FDO). As recommended by the experts, a specific Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication line should be allocated for transferring money for medicines and medical devices and certain financial institutions are assigned for this purpose. It is also suggested that defining a white list of Iranian pharmaceuticals and medical device companies together with their foreign counterparts would facilitate this process. It appears that, in a public health prospective, ordinary people and patients are hurt and paying the cost for current sanctions. It remains the responsibility of the public health and international communities to separate public health from politics and to ease the pain of public from sanctions.