WHO Says Not a Proper Time for Anti-Iran Sanctions
IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK
TEHRAN – The World health Organization has sent its experts to Iran to evaluate Iran’s response to the Coronavirus and provide support where there’s a need.
The meeting came as scores of people have died from the coronavirus in Iran and thousands are infected. This as Iran is grappling with another challenge. The U.S. sanctions have made it impossible for Iran to buy any medicine from other countries.
The WHO called on the U.S. to regard the current situation as an exception and exclude the medical industry from the list of its sanctions. The WHO also ensured Iran that it will support the country wherever there’s a deficiency as a result of the sanctions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also says it will “provide all the support” to the Iranian government in its fight against the deadly novel coronavirus, expressing great optimism that the Islamic Republic will succeed in containing the disease.
“We are very optimistic that together we will make excellent progress,” Emergency Director for WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Richard Brennan, told journalists in Tehran on Saturday.
He hailed Iran’s great efforts to battle the coronavirus, saying, “We have been impressed by the way that the [Iranian] government and the health workers and other sectors of the society are really working hard to defeat the virus.”
He noted that the WHO team,consisting of colleagues from the world’s health body — the Robert Koch Institute in Germany and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) — have had numerous meetings with Iranian health officials and workers over the past few days.
“We have a tremendous exchange of experiences and information,” Brennan said, adding that the WHO team has “learnt from the Ministry of Health and the health workers in Iran.”
He noted that both sides would share important lessons on ways to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.
The WHO official also warned about a campaign of misinformation and propagation and said, “Misinformation makes the job of doctors and nurses so much harder.”
“We also know that one of the biggest enemies in defeating the outbreak is misinformation, rumors and false news. We have to keep the communication accurate and precise about the true realities of the disease,” he emphasized.
He extended his congratulations in particular to the hardworking doctors, nurses and other health workers in laboratories and elsewhere for their really tremendous work.
