{"id":24096,"date":"2021-07-23T06:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T04:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/?p=24096"},"modified":"2021-07-22T15:51:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T13:51:03","slug":"iran-power-cuts-equal-patient-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/articles\/2021\/07\/iran-power-cuts-equal-patient-deaths\/24096\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran: Power Cuts Equal Patient Deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Iranian public has been suffering through extensive and unannounced power cuts on a daily basis since early May, which has caused widespread difficulties for most of the country. One key example of this is patients who are hooked up to life-saving medical devices, whether in a hospital <\/a>or at home, who lose power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials said that the blackouts will continue for at least another month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, as these power outages are happening at the same time that the fifth wave of Covid-19 has hit the country hard and hospitalisation rates have increased, it is affecting the country\u2019s ability to fight the pandemic. Many thousands of Covid-19 patients are using ventilators, but those recovering at home with smaller versions don\u2019t have access to the backup generators that the hospitals do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There aren\u2019t official statistics about inpatient deaths because of the outages, but online videos demonstrate the dire conditions. As the lives of these people are threatened on the daily, the mental health of them and those around them have been affected dramatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Energy Ministry claims that it doesn\u2019t have any responsibility for those receiving medical care at home. One of the Power Generation and Transmission Company\u2019s officials said last year that the company doesn\u2019t have any responsibility for oxygen users at home and insisted that every patient needs their own emergency electrical equipment, which is very expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regime promised before that electricity would not be cut off at hospitals under any circumstances and that medical centers have emergency generators, but this fails to take into account that the system is not automatic and needs some time to connect, which causes many deaths and makes conditions much worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air conditioners of #Iran<\/a>'s hospitals are not connected to emergency power sources. People, who are suffering from high temperatures and the continuing spread of Covid-19, have been left without even life-saving medical devices. #HumanRights<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/R7z4oeF4Xp<\/a><\/p>\u2014 IRAN HRM (@IranHrm) July 10, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>