Because of the poor Health Ministry’s budget, people are having to pay a higher price for a lower quality of care. 

People living in areas far from large cities often do not have access to the most basic of medical supplies. However, in large cities too, including the capital Tehran, the hospitals lack the required equipment and facilities. 

Iranian MPs estimate that almost two-thirds of hospitals in Iran are “worn out”. 

One MP said that if the renovation of the worst medical centres is not budgeted for, there will be damages that will be beyond repair, making the sites useless. He spoke about the conditions of hospitals in his region – the Isfahan Province – claiming that there are only really 4 hospitals there as the others are completely “worn out”. 

Speaking about a fire that occurred in the Plasco building in Tehran, which collapsed as the fire was being extinguished, the head of Iran’s Physicians Organization warned that old hospitals could have the same fate. 

He said: “It is a good opportunity for the government and parliament to learn from the Plasco incident and take action to improve conditions in our hospitals.”

Shahla Mirgolubayat, a member of the Iranian Parliament Health and Treatment Committee said that there are safety concerns surrounding these old buildings. Mirgolubayat said: “In addition to the fact that worn-out conditions pose safety risks in cases of earthquakes, they also causes psychological damages and place obstacles before patients’ recover process.” 

Mirgolubayat emphasised that action needs to be taken immediately before another tragedy happens and pointed out that the same needs to be done for all public buildings – universities, schools, etc. 

The state-run Quds Online website wrote: “We must not wait for an unhappy incident to occur to have us answer the question of why did we act late. The Plasco incident is only a tip of the iceberg of the conditions our buildings are in, and there are many other examples across the country. This includes hospitals, universities and schools. However, it appears officials prefer not to hear the alarm bells.”

In a country where so many people live below the poverty line, such conditions mean that a lot of people receive substandard healthcare. What makes this even more shocking and unfair for the Iranian people is that the regime spends billions of dollars on warmongering and terrorist activities.