The society’s managing director Younes Arab made the comments on the occasion of World Thalassemia Day.
Arab said chelation therapy is needed for the patients to remove excess iron from their blood.
He said access to these and other drugs for the disease has become very difficult due to the sanctions and the shortage has claimed the lives of 662 since the re-imposition of the US sanctions on Iran in 2018.
Arab added that, “mismanagement inside the country is also worsening the issue with wrong planning, failure of the authorities to provide the needed foreign currency for the imports and little insurance coverage for the medicine.”
Arab stressed that it is “absolutely serious and necessary” for the government to address the concerns rising from sanctions to save the lives of the patients.
