The Islamic Republic's authorities have not submitted any health statistics to the World Health Organization (WHO) since mid-2021, a former Iranian official said.
Mohsen Asadi-Lari, the former Director General of International Affairs at Iran's Ministry of Health, said that the three-year gap in reporting contradicts Iran's legal duties and international obligations regarding health cooperation with the WHO.
The reasons behind this lapse are either unclear or related to security concerns, according to the former official.
Asadi-Lari emphasized that since he left the position at the ministry, this cooperation has ceased entirely. He described Iran's health data situation during the ensuing period as "chaotic."
Mohsen Naqavi, an Iranian professor at the University of Washington, confirmed that Iranian authorities have not provided new health data to the WHO since 2016.
Naqavi's statement suggests an even longer period of non-reporting than initially indicated by Asadi-Lari.
Naqavi addressed the security concerns that might be behind this decision. He said that the Iranian Ministry of Health's worries about the potential misuse of this data by intelligence agencies, such as the American CIA, are unfounded.
He emphasized that these data are solely used for scientific research and assessing population health status.
Interested in writing for IranWire?
Share your stories.
comments