U.S.-Imposed Economic Sanctions on Iran in the COVID-19 Crisis From the Human Rights Perspective

The use of sanctions as a policy tool to affect change in the political behavior of target states has increased over the past 30 years, along with a concern about their impact on civilian health. Some researchers have proposed that targeting sanctions can avoid their moral costs, yet others have challenged this claim. This systematic mixed-studies review explored the debate about targeted sanctions by appraising their health effects as reported in the medical and public health literature, with a global focus and through the COVID-19 era. We searched three electronic databases without temporal or geographical restrictions and identified 50 studies spanning three decades (1992–2021) meeting our inclusion criteria. Using a piloted form, we extracted quotations addressing our research questions and identified themes that we grouped according to the effects of sanctions on health or its determinants, generating frequency distributions to assess the strength of support for each theme. While no study posited a causal relationship between sanctions and health, or engaged the morality of sanctions, most implied that when sanctions were present, health was inevitably impacted, even for sanctions ostensibly targeted to minimize civilian harm. Our findings suggest that given the integrated nature of the global economy, it is all but impossible to design sanctions that will achieve their stated goals without inflicting significant harm on civilians. We conclude that the use of sanctions as a policy tool threatens global health and human rights, especially in times of crises.

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“…20,[92][93][94][95] We observe, however, that major pre-COVID-19 sanctions regimes remain in place. 26,96,97…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Violence of Non-Violence: A Systematic Mixed-Studies Review on the Health Effects of Sanctions

Chaufan

Yousefi

Zaman

2022

International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Heal

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“…For instance, Pakistan struggled due to its fragile health care infrastructure, characterized by shortages of health care professionals, hospital beds, and essential medical equipment necessary for treating patients with COVID-19 [19]. Similarly, Iran encountered difficulties in delivering crucial medical and humanitarian supplies due to economic sanctions [20]. Additionally, Yemen and Syria faced difficulties managing the pandemic within the context of ongoing conflict, displacement, and the challenges of maintaining health care infrastructure and resources [21].…”

Section: Challenges In the Emrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning From COVID-19: What Would It Take to Be Better Prepared in the Eastern Mediterranean Region?

Kufoof,

Hajjeh,

Al Nsour

et al. 2024

JMIR Public Health Surveill

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The COVID-19 transmission in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) was influenced by various factors such as conflict, demographics, travel and social restrictions, migrant workers, weak health systems, and mass gatherings. The countries that responded well to COVID-19 had high-level political commitment, multisectoral coordination, and existing infrastructures that could quickly mobilize. However, some EMR countries faced challenges due to political instability and fragile health systems, which hindered their response strategies. The pandemic highlighted the region’s weak health systems and preparedness, fragmented surveillance systems, and lack of trust in information sharing. COVID-19 exposed the disruption of access and delivery of essential health services as a major health system fragility. In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a global pulse survey, which demonstrated that the EMR experienced the highest disruption in health services compared to other WHO regions. However, thanks to prioritization by the WHO and its member states, significant improvement was observed in 2021 during the second round of the WHO’s National Pulse Survey. The pandemic underscored the importance of political leadership, community engagement, and trust and emphasized that investing in health security benefits everyone. Increasing vaccine coverage, building regional capacities, strengthening health systems, and working toward universal health coverage and health security are all priorities in the EMR. Emergency public health plays a key role in preparing for and responding to pandemics and biological threats. Integrating public health into primary care and investing in public health workforce capacity building is essential to reshaping public health and health emergency preparedness.

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“…The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), was first reported in Wuhan (Hubei, China) in December 2019 (Bagher Pour et al, 2021 ; Jiang et al, 2020 ; Karimi & Turkamani, 2021 ). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, there were 558,830,377 confirmed cases of COVID‐19 (including 6,369,483 deaths) on July 8, 2022 ( https://covid19.who.int/ ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccines: A double‐edged sword throughout rapid evolution of COVID‐19

Zolfaghari

Moghaddam

Rajput

et al. 2022

Cell Biology International

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After more than 2 years of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, several questions have remained unanswered that affected our daily lives. Although substantial vaccine development could resist this challenge, emerging new variants in different countries could be considered as potent concerns regarding the adverse effects of reinfection or postvaccination. Precisely, these concerns address some significant and probable outcomes in vaccinated or reinfected models, followed by some virus challenges, such as antibody‐dependent enhancement and cytokine storm. Therefore, the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) elicited by vaccination and the rise of new variants must be addressed.

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U.S.-Imposed Economic Sanctions on Iran in the COVID-19 Crisis From the Human Rights Perspective

Cited by 9 publications

References 9 publications

The Violence of Non-Violence: A Systematic Mixed-Studies Review on the Health Effects of Sanctions

The Violence of Non-Violence: A Systematic Mixed-Studies Review on the Health Effects of Sanctions

Learning From COVID-19: What Would It Take to Be Better Prepared in the Eastern Mediterranean Region?

SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccines: A double‐edged sword throughout rapid evolution of COVID‐19

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