He warned that despite a legal requirement to maintain six months’ worth of essential medicines, current reserves are sufficient for only about two months. Ahmadi explained that “crisis conditions” have prevented the accumulation of adequate strategic stockpiles.
This comes despite earlier statements in July by Hassan Abdoli, a member of the parliamentary health commission, who said the Food and Drug Organization of Iran had fully completed drug stockpiling and prepared for special circumstances, including crises or potential attacks, leaving no cause for concern.
Under the Seventh Development Plan law of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education is required, in coordination with executive bodies, to maintain strategic reserves of medicines and medical consumables sufficient for at least six months of national demand.
About a year ago, the Iranian Pharmacists Association sent a letter to the Supreme National Security Council warning of a looming pharmaceutical crisis caused by unpaid debts to pharmacies. According to the association, this situation has disrupted the drug supply chain and could lead to a “serious crisis” in the health sector.
In recent years, soaring drug prices and persistent shortages have become one of the most pressing concerns for patients and their families. Many people must pay several times previous costs for life-saving medications or spend hours searching multiple pharmacies without certainty of finding what they need.
Rising exchange rates, difficulties importing raw materials, accumulated insurance debts to pharmaceutical companies, declining domestic production, and weaknesses in distribution systems have all contributed to the crisis.
Patients with chronic or rare diseases, the elderly, and low-income groups are among the most affected, as interruptions or delays in medication can directly endanger their lives.
Shortages have also fueled black-market sales, where drugs are offered at exorbitant prices or replaced with counterfeit products, posing serious risks to public health.
Beyond the heavy financial burden on households, the situation has generated widespread anxiety, despair, and a sense of vulnerability among patients, as access to healthcare — a fundamental human need — has increasingly become scarce and costly.
