The spread of epidemics and corrupt medicines.. Expected results of the practices of Iran’s arm in Yemen
English - Tuesday 25 October 2022 الساعة 03:25 pm
Sana'a, NewsYemen, private:
The case of the death of 20 children with cancer in Sana'a as a result of injecting them with contaminated medicine has reopened the file of the practices of the terrorist Houthi militia, the Iranian arm, that led to the destruction of the health sector in Yemen.
Since its coup against power on September 21, 2014, the Iranian arm has gradually abolished free of charge many medical departments in government hospitals and health centers and looted international and local financial support for health and medical programs for people with chronic diseases.
The return of polio to areas under the control of terrorist militias is the biggest evidence of the militias' disastrous practices against the health sector, as the militias prevented any vaccination campaigns against epidemics and diseases in their areas of control.
The militias also looted the support provided to the National Program for the Free Medical Supply of the Ministry of Health, which is estimated at billions of riyals, exacerbating the suffering of destitute patients with chronic diseases.
A number of people with chronic diseases in Sana'a complain of their inability to acquire the necessary free medicines that were periodically dispensed to them before the Houthi coup, in addition to the high prices of them on the black market and their inability to buy them.
They pointed out that the existing drugs for kidney failure and diabetes, in addition to epilepsy, hepatitis, hemophilia, cancer, blood pressure and psychiatric drugs, are much less effective than the original treatments that were given to them for free by the authority before the coup.
The militias’ practices did not stop there, but extended to the pharmaceutical sector, as they flooded the market in their areas of control with counterfeit and forged medicines through drug import companies that they had recently established and made them a front for profit.
Pharmacists in Sana'a told NewsYemen that the militia, through the so-called Supreme Authority for Medicines - a newly created entity - is registering and allowing the distribution of poor, counterfeit and lower quality medicines in return for exorbitant sums of money amounting to hundreds of millions for a single drug brand in the context of fighting international companies. The approved original and the financial extortion of those responsible for it is indifferent to the health damage to Yemenis and the local economy, with the aim of replacing it with companies affiliated with Houthi leaders.
Pharmacists are called to oblige the Houthi Authority to apply scientific standards for drug registration in Yemen to ensure its quality and conformity to specifications as is the case in other countries.
A medical statistic recorded that the number of prohibited items available in the pharmaceutical market amounts to more than 400 items, as they are not in conformity with medical standards, and are not suitable for human use, often leading to the spread of serious diseases such as cancer and other chronic diseases.
