Corona in Iran; Warning Regarding Increase in AIDS and Tuberculosis

Masoud Mardani, a member of the committee to combat AIDS and the national headquarters for coronavirus response, warned about the onset of a new wave of other contagious diseases, including AIDS and tuberculosis, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Masoud Mardani, a member of the national committee to combat AIDS and the national headquarters for coronavirus response, criticized the neglect of fighting contagious diseases and their increase during the coronavirus outbreak in Iran.

According to ILNA, Mardani said on Wednesday, November 10, that one of the major problems is the excessive focus on disease caused by coronavirus and the neglect and underestimation of the spread of other very common diseases, including AIDS and tuberculosis in Iran. According to him, the spread of tuberculosis in Iran has never been as prevalent as in the past two years.

This member of the national AIDS combat committee said: “With the spread of corona, the management of treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of AIDS has lost its primary position over the past two years.”

According to Mardani, the diagnosis and combating of other common diseases have been overshadowed by corona, and physicians have either “forgotten or failed to prioritize” screening and detection methods for new cases of disease.

He said: “Cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, which was fatal, were always reported from provinces such as Sistan and Baluchestan, but during the two years when corona existed, reported cases of the disease reached their minimum. Some scientific articles have shown that some patients until the last moment of having this disease had not been diagnosed with it, because everyone thought it might be corona.”

“Population Youth Plan is Unprofessional”

Mardani, while referring to a severe shortage of drugs to combat HIV virus, warned of the possibility of a new wave of AIDS. He said: “Even the meetings we held for the national committee to combat and control AIDS disease have not been held even once in the past two years, and this shows that the vulnerability of those infected with HIV is high.”

Masoud Mardani said that currently, given the limitations imposed on individuals’ use of prevention methods to encourage procreation, a large number will be added to sexual transmission patients.

A member of the national scientific committee for AIDS said: “The use of condoms is one of the most important protective barriers to prevent gonorrhea, chlamydia, and infections transmitted through sexual relations, and when individuals do not have access to condoms, they may contract these diseases.”

According to ILNA news agency, Masoud Mardani called the population youth plan “completely unprofessional” and emphasized that “even with the approval of the Guardian Council, it must be withdrawn again and worked on.” He simultaneously raised the question of how many pediatric and genetic specialists worked on this plan.

The population youth plan, which was approved by the Guardian Council on November 10, was passed by a commission in parliament without review in the open session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. This plan grants financial and employment benefits to individuals with children and simultaneously imposes restrictions on contraception and abortion.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, has repeatedly referred in recent years to the necessity of increasing Iran’s population and timely marriage and procreation. The policy of increasing the population in Iran began with Khamenei’s statements in 2013. In his speech, he described increasing the population as among the “vital needs of the country today and tomorrow.” He emphasized that Iran’s population should reach 100 to 150 million people.

Source: DW