Health and Hygiene

Iranwire – As the weather grows colder in Iran, the official figures indicate that flu cases are on the rise as usual. Simultaneously the spread of the Omicron variant has prompted as-yet unfounded rumors on Persian-language social media and in the media about the emergence of a “super-virus”. Some users are calling it “Flurona”: a combination of flu and coronavirus. …

Iranwire – The number of children aged under five in Sistan and Baluchistan who are underweight or have stunted growth is on the rise, health officials have warned. In a report on issues of malnutrition in the province, ILNA news agency put the official figure, which only counts those youngsters who have registered with a health center, at 12,000. Seyed …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Nejat Anvar Hamidi Karoun, who is serving a five-year sentence at the Sepidar Prison of Ahvaz, is at risk of losing her eyesight in prison. The Department of Intelligence of Ahvaz has prevented the 66 year old political prisoner, from going on medical leave despite her dire physical condition. Political prisoner Nejat Anvar Hamidi is suffering …

Iranwire – “I’ve always said and I’ll say again, we justice-seekers and freedom-seekers shouldn’t make imprisonment a red line, and mustn’t be afraid of the detention of others. We shouldn’t make it a rule to protect workers’ rights only up until the point where we are not harmed. Do we wait for benefits without spending spending money? Whoever wants a …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Mehdi Salehi Ghaleh Shahrokhi suffered a stroke after he was wrongly injected in prison. Prison authorities delayed his transfere to the hospital, putting him at grave risk of death. He went to the prison health center on Tuesday, December 11, 2021, due to heart and head problems. He suffered a stroke the same day after being …

Iranwire – The Omicron Covid-19 variant is spreading at a rapid pace in the cities of Ahvaz and Qom, local health officials have warned. “The number of patients with coronavirus in the east has increased fivefold in the past week,” Amrollah Mardani, director of the East Ahvaz Health Center, told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Tuesday, January 11, adding that the spike in …

Iranwire – More than eight months ago, Mohammad Mokhber, head of the Executive Headquarters of Imam’s Directive (“Setad”) – the Supreme Leader-owned holdings company that developed the Barekat Covid-19 vaccine – promised that by now, all kinds of Covid-19 vaccines would be available to Iranians. The public, he posited, would be able to choose any vaccine they wanted, “just like …

Al-Monitor – A number of lawmakers in Iran’s conservative parliament are advancing an impeachment bid against the country’s health minister, marking the first such attempt against the government of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. During an open meeting Jan. 11, the impeachment motion’s architect, Kamal Hosseinpour, criticized the health minister’s personal preference in COVID-19 vaccination, and his decision to take an imported …

RFL/RE – Jailed Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin has died in a hospital in Tehran, the Iranian Writers Association has reported. Abtin’s death, which was announced on January 8, came after the 48-year-old was recently placed in a medically induced coma while attempting to recover from a severe case of COVID-19. Abtin suffered from coronary heart disease, and after …

Iranwire – The Writers’ Association of Iran has condemned the ongoing incarceration of four of its members, all four of whom recently came down with Covid-19, alleging medical negligence by the authorities and calling their treatment a continuation of the chain murders. On Thursday, January 6, the Association once again called for the immediate release of Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, Reza Khandan Mahabadi, …