hashem
17th April 2013, 16:23
The shortage of medicine as a result of the government’s actions has both impacted the people of Iran and created considerable discourse around the world. The Iranian people have faced economic, political, and military pressure at the hands of the Islamic Republic for several decades. Now, along with these problems, the lack of medicine has created a new form of oppression, one which directly puts the peoples’ lives in danger.
During this crisis, ordinary people are not the only ones complaining, but ironically different factions within the regime itself have been at each others’ throats. Ahmadenijad and his cabinet insist that the shortage of medicine is a direct result of the sanctions placed on Iran by North America and Europe, but members from other factions within the Iranian Parliament have simultaneously condemned Ahmadenijad’s cabinet for faulty economic policies involving currency, referring to statistics and graphs. As a result, the opposing faction impeached Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, Ahmadenijad’s Health Minister.
Hassan Tamini Lichaii, the Vice Chairman of the Health Committee has been quoted in Khabar, an online Iranian news source, as saying “There is a possibility of impeachment of the health minister for the shortage of medicine, and also for mediocre management.”
The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Health Commission claims that the government did not allocate enough funds for medical purposes, and as a result there is a nation-wide shortage. Marzieh Dastjerdi, the aforementioned Health Minister of Ahmadenijad’s government, also confessed that the government’s fund for the 2012 was $2.5 billion but they only paid forward $600 million to Health funds.
What is the root of this crisis? Is the treasure really empty as a result of the European and North American sanctions, as Ahmadenijad fervently claims? Why didn’t he allocate more than $600 million? Those opposing factions, are they innocents, trying to save the Iranian people, or are they the regime’s partners in crime?
The reality is that recession, inflation, and crises within the Iranian regime all impact the working people of Iran. These crises have roots in neo-liberal policies, and the government’s reliance on cutting subsidies that began under the presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani and re-emerged in Ahmadenijad’s second term after approval. These policies impose inflation, and slowly eliminate the working peoples’ minimum health facilities. The inflation, marked at 300%, is the result of similar policies as those of the IMF. Those who suffer the greatest at the hands of these agendas are the working people of Iran.
Ahmadenijad’s ridiculous claims that the crises are results of sanctions are countered by the observation and analysis of where certain government funds have been allocated. According to statistics, a large amount of funds has been allocated for non-essential items like luxury vehicles. How then, if the government can afford such funds for things like luxury vehicles, is there so little pouring into the health industry? Unfortunately, this is a matter of priorities.
According to the latest data compiled by Customs, within the first six months of this year, over 19,000 foreign vehicles with a combined worth of $429 billion were imported. The imported tariffs on luxury cars were paid with utilizing a special exchange rate by the Iranian government. The Fars news agency writes that all imported tariffs on luxury cars in the first six months of the year were calculated using the rate of $1 USD = 12,260 Iranian Rial. When comparing this to the $600 million trickling into the health industry, we can magnify this government’s priorities.
Emruznews.com quotes Masoud Pzeshkian, a member of the Health Committee in parliament, during an interview by etedaal.ir as saying that imported luxury cars use the special exchange rate mentioned earlier, but medicine still uses the market exchange rate. As a result, luxury cars are guaranteed government subsidies, but health is not.
During the first 6 months of 2012, the funds available for the import of bananas and luxury cars were more than one-and-a-half times the budget for medicine.
These policies and measures sent out by Ahmadenijad’s government reflect the systematic and deliberate covering up of the fact that Iran is suffering from lack of proper health facilities and tools. They also show the idea that Ahmadenijad and his government seek to implement policies that will limit health facilities.
Ironically, even with all the disagreements within the government, all the government’s economic policies, including those which aimed at cutting subsidies, were approved by the House of Representatives. Things like foreign missions and budgets set in place for MPS and other government officials were all approved by the MPs. Government officials receive $130 a day; further, once calculated with the rate $1=2,500 Rials, one day of pay towards foreign missions equals one month’s wage for a working Iranian.
The Iranian government officials’ obsession with traveling overseas should also be duly noted. Oversea mission funds are massive. If this budget were sliced, the vast majority of problems facing the health industry could be solved with the allocation of the new funds. On December 5, 2012, the same representatives who fought with Ahmadenijad’s government over the health crisis, acting as though they wanted to help the working poor, voted against the removal of the overseas mission funds.
If the bill had passed, Iranian officials who traveled overseas would only receive the cost of travel, accommodation, and food, but not the daily $130 bonus (www.tabnak.ir (http://www.tabnak.ir), December 6, 2012). It is obvious that these representatives, when discussing their own interests seem to forget the plight of the workers. The $130 bonus, to these government officials, is more important than the working poor who sacrifice their well-being every day in the interest of the same people who deny them of their fundamental right to health.
The truth must emerge now, to all Iranian people, that the Islamic Republic is oppressive in every sector, and that it will never utilize its power to help the working people. 34 years of oppression, executions without trials, and torture exemplifies this idea. The regime itself is anti-democratic in nature, and no reforms of any kind will fix its corroded core. The government may seem to an outsider, because of the apparent disagreement between factions- but as we have seen, upon examination the interests of the officials’ own pockets surpass those of the people who tirelessly work beneath them.
With these facts in mind, we can conclude that the health crisis is not something which Islamic Republic of Iran intends to, or feels obligated to fix: to them, the lives of people are worth less than the price of luxury cars.
published in "Against the Current (http://www.fedaian-minority.org/english/against/against.html)" - The English publication of organisation of Fedaian (Minority) - Abroad committe
During this crisis, ordinary people are not the only ones complaining, but ironically different factions within the regime itself have been at each others’ throats. Ahmadenijad and his cabinet insist that the shortage of medicine is a direct result of the sanctions placed on Iran by North America and Europe, but members from other factions within the Iranian Parliament have simultaneously condemned Ahmadenijad’s cabinet for faulty economic policies involving currency, referring to statistics and graphs. As a result, the opposing faction impeached Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, Ahmadenijad’s Health Minister.
Hassan Tamini Lichaii, the Vice Chairman of the Health Committee has been quoted in Khabar, an online Iranian news source, as saying “There is a possibility of impeachment of the health minister for the shortage of medicine, and also for mediocre management.”
The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Health Commission claims that the government did not allocate enough funds for medical purposes, and as a result there is a nation-wide shortage. Marzieh Dastjerdi, the aforementioned Health Minister of Ahmadenijad’s government, also confessed that the government’s fund for the 2012 was $2.5 billion but they only paid forward $600 million to Health funds.
What is the root of this crisis? Is the treasure really empty as a result of the European and North American sanctions, as Ahmadenijad fervently claims? Why didn’t he allocate more than $600 million? Those opposing factions, are they innocents, trying to save the Iranian people, or are they the regime’s partners in crime?
The reality is that recession, inflation, and crises within the Iranian regime all impact the working people of Iran. These crises have roots in neo-liberal policies, and the government’s reliance on cutting subsidies that began under the presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani and re-emerged in Ahmadenijad’s second term after approval. These policies impose inflation, and slowly eliminate the working peoples’ minimum health facilities. The inflation, marked at 300%, is the result of similar policies as those of the IMF. Those who suffer the greatest at the hands of these agendas are the working people of Iran.
Ahmadenijad’s ridiculous claims that the crises are results of sanctions are countered by the observation and analysis of where certain government funds have been allocated. According to statistics, a large amount of funds has been allocated for non-essential items like luxury vehicles. How then, if the government can afford such funds for things like luxury vehicles, is there so little pouring into the health industry? Unfortunately, this is a matter of priorities.
According to the latest data compiled by Customs, within the first six months of this year, over 19,000 foreign vehicles with a combined worth of $429 billion were imported. The imported tariffs on luxury cars were paid with utilizing a special exchange rate by the Iranian government. The Fars news agency writes that all imported tariffs on luxury cars in the first six months of the year were calculated using the rate of $1 USD = 12,260 Iranian Rial. When comparing this to the $600 million trickling into the health industry, we can magnify this government’s priorities.
Emruznews.com quotes Masoud Pzeshkian, a member of the Health Committee in parliament, during an interview by etedaal.ir as saying that imported luxury cars use the special exchange rate mentioned earlier, but medicine still uses the market exchange rate. As a result, luxury cars are guaranteed government subsidies, but health is not.
During the first 6 months of 2012, the funds available for the import of bananas and luxury cars were more than one-and-a-half times the budget for medicine.
These policies and measures sent out by Ahmadenijad’s government reflect the systematic and deliberate covering up of the fact that Iran is suffering from lack of proper health facilities and tools. They also show the idea that Ahmadenijad and his government seek to implement policies that will limit health facilities.
Ironically, even with all the disagreements within the government, all the government’s economic policies, including those which aimed at cutting subsidies, were approved by the House of Representatives. Things like foreign missions and budgets set in place for MPS and other government officials were all approved by the MPs. Government officials receive $130 a day; further, once calculated with the rate $1=2,500 Rials, one day of pay towards foreign missions equals one month’s wage for a working Iranian.
The Iranian government officials’ obsession with traveling overseas should also be duly noted. Oversea mission funds are massive. If this budget were sliced, the vast majority of problems facing the health industry could be solved with the allocation of the new funds. On December 5, 2012, the same representatives who fought with Ahmadenijad’s government over the health crisis, acting as though they wanted to help the working poor, voted against the removal of the overseas mission funds.
If the bill had passed, Iranian officials who traveled overseas would only receive the cost of travel, accommodation, and food, but not the daily $130 bonus (www.tabnak.ir (http://www.tabnak.ir), December 6, 2012). It is obvious that these representatives, when discussing their own interests seem to forget the plight of the workers. The $130 bonus, to these government officials, is more important than the working poor who sacrifice their well-being every day in the interest of the same people who deny them of their fundamental right to health.
The truth must emerge now, to all Iranian people, that the Islamic Republic is oppressive in every sector, and that it will never utilize its power to help the working people. 34 years of oppression, executions without trials, and torture exemplifies this idea. The regime itself is anti-democratic in nature, and no reforms of any kind will fix its corroded core. The government may seem to an outsider, because of the apparent disagreement between factions- but as we have seen, upon examination the interests of the officials’ own pockets surpass those of the people who tirelessly work beneath them.
With these facts in mind, we can conclude that the health crisis is not something which Islamic Republic of Iran intends to, or feels obligated to fix: to them, the lives of people are worth less than the price of luxury cars.
published in "Against the Current (http://www.fedaian-minority.org/english/against/against.html)" - The English publication of organisation of Fedaian (Minority) - Abroad committe