Iran: Medical Shortages Have Killed At Least 170 Spinal Cord Patients

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According to a report by the Iranian regime’s Etemad newspaper, citing officials from the Iran Spinal Cord Injury Support Center, “Over the past two years, amid rising prices, at least 170 individuals with spinal cord injuries have lost their lives due to pressure ulcers and infections resulting from the lack of hygiene supplies.”

On August 15 the newspaper quoted Mahnaz Kazemi, one of the directors of the Iran Spinal Cord Injury Support Center, as saying, “The situation of individuals with spinal cord injuries, especially after multiple price hikes in the country, is dire.”

Kazemi referred to the statistics of the database of the Iran Spinal Cord Injury Support Center and stated that the center has learned about the deaths of these individuals from the families of those with spinal cord injuries.

Having suffered a spinal cord injury herself four decades ago, Kazemi told Etemad that “the cost of hygiene and medical supplies is skyrocketing, and even a sterile gauze costs 20,000 to 30,000 rials (approximately $0.4 to 0.6),” while these items are even more vital for individuals with spinal cord injuries than food.

“According to our database, between 170 to 200 beneficiaries with spinal cord injuries, most of whom were young and aged 22 to 35, have died in these two years, and the main cause of their deaths has been pressure ulcers and infections resulting from the lack of hygiene supplies,” Kazemi added.

According to Kazemi, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the deaths of some individuals with spinal cord injuries were attributed to COVID-19, but “most of these deaths were not due to COVID-19, and the cause was pressure ulcers and infections that affected the entire bodies of these people.”

She added, “In these two years, we have lost clients who we never thought we would, as they were like our friends. Suddenly, a family calls us in tears and says that these pressure ulcers have finally defeated our daughter or son. It is a shock to both us and other clients, and they become hopeless due to the conditions they are facing.”

The Iran Spinal Cord Injury Support Center is a non-governmental organization established in 2006 and operates under the supervision of State Welfare Organization of Iran. The center, whose directors are often individuals with spinal cord injuries themselves, currently has 2,100 disabled individuals in Tehran province and 700 beneficiaries from other provinces as its members.

In her interview with Etemad, Mahnaz Kazemi also mentioned numerous cases of suicide among individuals with spinal cord injuries due to the lack of appropriate counseling services provided to them.

However, she stated that the center “does not have statistical data on suicide because they are often not reported to us,” and even the deaths of some beneficiaries are only reported to them by families after one year.