Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 14
By Temkin Jafarov - Trend:
The average family spending on medicines and treatment in Iran increased by more than 41 percent over the past 10 months, Iranian Cooperative, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Ali Rabi'ee said on Tuesday, IRNA news agency reported.
The minister said the cost of medicines and treatment account for 70 percent of a single family's total average income. He stressed it is necessary to insure the population in line with the European standards within framework of social welfare.
Iran's largest insurance company, the Social Security Organisation (SSO) has insured 37 million citizens of the country, Rabi'ee added.
"This company cannot fully execute its obligations on provision for the population with medicines and treatment and doctors and pharmacies refuse to serve people insured by this company," the minister said.
Currently over 13 million citizens do not have insurance, according to Iranian media outlets. Most of them live in the Iranian provinces and villages.
The U.S. and EU sanctions against Iran which cover finance, trade, energy and transport, adversely affected the country's economy. The sanctions which caused a reduction of the national currency, also created problems for the import of certain medicines to Iran.
Iranian media outlets reported that recently the country's domestic market suffered a deficit of about 90 types of medicines used for treatment of some serious diseases. The price of those medicines also rose.
Translated by E.A.
Edited by S.M.