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materials and technology despite the fact that it had been active in this field
for almost 40 years.
C) Destruction of market structure and brokerage
One of the effects of sanctions on domestic medicine market in Iran was
collapse of the structure and organization of the medicine market in the
country. Sanctions led to increased inflation rate in the country and increased
parity rate of foreign currencies against Iran’s national currency, rial, as a
result of which price of many essential medicines greatly increased. This issue
not only severely restricted the access of patients to essential medicines, but
also led to further expansion of such illegal activities as hoarding, brokerage,
and medicine smuggling, which at the end of the day, increased the price of
medicines for end customers. On the other hand, increased sales of low-quality
and even expired medicines through the unofficial medicine market, especially
the one that is active on Nasser KhosrowAvenue in downtown Tehran, caused
From Abadan to Istanbul in search of medicine
This is what an eyewitness has gone through. A father had taken his sick
daughter from the city of Abadan, in southwest Iran, to Tehran and had
her hospitalized at a hospital. When the doctor gave the prescription to
the father, he referred to the hospital’s pharmacy, the Central Pharmacy
of Tehran, Central Red Crescent Pharmacy and even the black market on
Nasser Khosrow Avenue, but he could not find the medicine. The doctor
had told him that the very survival of his daughter depended on that
medicine. The father was anxious, because he was losing his daughter to
lack of a single medicine. At last, one of the physicians gave him a piece
of advice: “Take the first flight to Turkey, because you do not need a visa
to go there.”