Iran in dire need of dressings produced in Sweden for EB patients

Tehran, IRNA – Founder of the specialized health center for EB (Epidermolysis bullosa) patients Hamid-Reza Hashemi has said that Iran has serious problems in procuring dressings required for EB care. Hashemi made the remarks on Wednesday, when Minister of Foreign Affair Hossein Amirabdollahian paid a visit to the heath center, expressing gratitude for efforts made by the Foreign Ministry to pave the way for procuring dressings for these patients. Unfortunately, the disease was not identified in Iran for years; so, we did not know if there are other patients than my own daughter, but now the illness is well known in the country, the founder added. Our problem is the dressings, which are being produced in Sweden and we do not have such medication in Iran, he said, adding that nearly 100 countries are using the dressings and that the Islamic Republic has been using it for years, but following the United States’ withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposition of anti-Iran sanctions, procurement of the dressing has become very hard. The lives of my own daughter and other patients, who are in dire need of the dressings, is in danger; so, we wrote a letter to Sweden, but they answered that the Islamic Republic is under sanction and they cannot sell it to Iranians, he said, criticizing that the Westerners, who claim they are civilized people, have imposed sanctions, Iranian patients. The founder of the EB house center went on to say that the center has filed a lawsuit in the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic to pursue the problem; however, we expect the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi to follow up the issue. As a father of a patient, who is in dire need of the dressings for Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) care, I know exactly what are the difficulties of the disease, because my daughter has lost her ability to listen, Hashemi added. Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish