Hospitals Demand 12 Trillion Tomans from Social Security; Financial Tsunami in Health and Treatment

The Minister of Health of the Islamic Republic announced that hospitals are demanding 12 trillion tomans from the Social Security Organization and also a demand of 25 trillion tomans from the 'Drug Support' plan from the country's Planning and Budget Organization, stating: 'Our financial challenges relate to how much of our budget we can receive from the Planning and Budget Organization and others.' Bahram Einollahi unveiled the 12 trillion tomans debt of the country's hospital network from social security and emphasized that 'we have not received any money for the drugs and services we provided.' The statements of the Minister of Health indicate that there was supposed to be a payment of subsidies for certain drug items based on the difference between preferential and semi-official exchange rates, which has not happened, and the 'Drug Support' plan is facing challenges, as he stated, 'Unfortunately, we have 25 trillion tomans in overdue payments from the Planning and Budget.' The financial challenges and drug supply in the health sector have also forced the 'Fars' news agency, affiliated with security institutions, to react, with this government-supporting media describing the 'Drug Support' plan as a way of masking the issue and transferring the problem from one system to another. The mention by 'Fars' of this aspect of the 'Drug Support' plan refers to statements by activists in this field who emphasized that 'the government, by implementing this plan, transferred the financial burden of the health sector to the private sector,' putting them at risk of 'bankruptcy,' and this financial crisis cannot occur without serious challenges in the drug sector. Accordingly, the vice president of the Pharmacists Association also reacted to these promises, stating that 'such actions will definitely lead to the destruction of the private sector, especially private pharmacies.' According to reports, in this financial crisis, banks have asked pharmaceutical companies to settle past debts before receiving new loans, and after settling previous loans, banks either reduced the payment ceiling or completely closed the credit line for drugs. This situation has been lamented by Bardia Farzamfar, CEO of Medok Biopharmaceutical Company, who told the 'ISNA' news agency that 'continuing this trend will lead to a drug crisis.' He explained the 'difficult conditions' by saying that 'last year, securing raw materials with 50,000 euros at a rate of 5,000 tomans was 250 million tomans, but now when I want to purchase 50,000 euros of raw materials, it becomes 1.5 billion tomans.' The budget and drug procurement crisis has even raised concerns among parliament representatives, with a member of the Health Commission evaluating the amount allocated in the budget for drug and equipment procurement as very low, stating that the situation in the 'drug sector' this year will be worse than last year. Masoud Pezeshkian stated in an interview with 'Shafaqna' that when they eliminated the drug currency, producers could not procure raw materials with the rials they have. An Iranian Health Ministry official confirmed a 'rotavirus outbreak'; production of 'domestic vaccine' by the end of the year. Warning about the 'rotavirus outbreak' in Tehran; families should vaccinate children 'freely.' Intensification of criminalization of intentional abortion in Iran; the Health Ministry threatened doctors. Indecision over essential goods in customs; potential shortages in the market. Intensification of the drug crisis in Iran; a government official confirmed: treatment for some diseases has become 'billion-dollar!'