By Staff Writer
The spokesperson of the regime’s Food and Drug Administration has announced that the treatment required for infants whose mothers are infected with Hepatitis-B, has been imported and is currently being labelled; however, it is not being supplied in sufficient numbers and is therefore not readily available in the market.
According to ILNA (Iranian Labour News Agency) on 14th May 2018, the spokesperson of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration has indeed confirmed the import and labelling of the medicine, as well as its scarcity across the market.
This medicine contains an immunoglobulin unique to Hepatitis-B; which can only be obtained via an exclusive importer. According to ILNA, the treatment is currently scarce, and supplied in very limited amounts. However, the Food and Drug Administration claims otherwise, and suggests that by phoning 190 and contacting the recommended pharmacies, the treatment can be easily accessed. But the truth is, very few pharmacies provide it, and at this stage, none of them have it in stock.
According to ILNA, Moayed Alavian, i.e., the head of Iran’s Hepatitis Network, has also commented on this issue: “they must be upfront with people and honest about the lack of treatment; in other words, they must refrain from giving everyone false information. All hepatitis-B patients have been unable to obtain this treatment for their infants.”. He stressed: “Unfortunately, the vaccine remains out of reach, and as a result, people are faced with many problems now. If infants don’t receive this treatment, the risk of them contracting the disease can increase to up to 10%; a percentage that cannot be ignored.”.
He continued: “if our aim is to eliminate Hepatitis from our country, we have to provide the necessary treatment. Provision of treatment is an important obligation of the Ministry of Health. Therefore, if an infected mother passes her Hepatitis onto her child due to a lack of treatment, she can make a formal complaint against the Ministry of Health for its negligence.”.
According to Alavian, “the Health Ministry itself has recommended the injection of this medicine to infants at risk (whose mothers are infected with Hepatitis-B) at their birth.”. He continued: “…try ringing 190 and contact the listed pharmacies; see if they provide this treatment or not.”
This medication must be administered at the time of birth; because whilst in its womb, the baby is not prone to Hepatitis-B. But once born, the womb’s blood starts mixing with that of the mother; hence, more likely for the baby to contract the disease. Therefore, the only way to prevent this transfer is to administer the treatment at the time of birth.
