Routine screenings and consultations for Iranian women can now cost more than two months of average pay, as healthcare prices rise much faster than wages and force some women to postpone preventive care.
An analysis published by Tejarat News on Wednesday estimated that a package of common women’s screenings and consultations could cost as much as 518 million rials in 2026, up from 138 million rials two years earlier.
For workers earning the average monthly pay of 250 million rials, the upper-end estimate represents more than two months of income.
“People can’t afford bread to eat. Staying healthy has become a luxury, like studying and going to university,” one social media user wrote in response to the figures.
Mammograms triple in price
The maximum listed price of a mammogram rose from 10 million rials in the Iranian year beginning March 2024 to 30 million rials in the year beginning March 2026, according to Tejarat News.
That represents a threefold increase in two years for an imaging procedure commonly used to screen for and detect breast cancer.
Ultrasound examinations have also become considerably more expensive. The maximum cost of a transvaginal ultrasound increased by about 80 percent in two years, while an ultrasound of the uterus and ovaries rose from 18 million to 44 million rials, an increase of more than 140 percent.
Pap smears showed an even steeper increase at the upper end of the reported range, with the maximum listed price rising from 9 million rials in 2024 to more than 130 million rials in 2026.
