While there are numerous reports about shortages of medicines and medical products, including basic drugs and IV fluids in recent months, the country’s health ministry has destroyed a huge amount of the imported supplies without the required examination by relevant organizations, said Saheb Hojjati, the head of the Iranian organization in charge of confiscated goods. 

Large amounts of IV fluids were destroyed earlier this year while the country was suffering from severe shortages, he underlined.

Hojjati added that according to law, the Health Ministry and the Standards Organization must test the drugs and their expiration dates to see if they are safe to be used and announce the results in written documents to the Organization for Collection and Sale of State-owned Properties of Iran (OCSSPI), but this procedure is not being followed at the moment. The OCSSPI is affiliated to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, with its main purpose being the collection, storage, management and sale of properties that by law are under the ownership, possession, custody or management of the government.