Adverse effects of political sanctions on the health care system in Iran.

Abstract

The United States has long leveraged economic sanctions as powerful instruments to achieve foreign policy objectives [1]. Economic sanctions have been described as a “cheaper form of coercion, less aggressive than war with fewer human costs, and more politically feasible” [1]. Sanctions may be implemented as tariffs on imported goods, quotas on how much can be imported or exported, embargoes that prevent all trade between countries, or non–tariff Barriers that include other non–tariff restrictions on imported items [2]. No matter what type of sanction is used, the end goal is the same: to force a change in behavior [2]. The United States particularly favors investment withdrawals, trade embargoes and foreign aid reductions to coerce foreign countries into compliance with its foreign policy objectives. However, many question the effectiveness of economic sanctions and, while policy–makers debate this, what is often understated is the hidden cost of US diplomacy: the cost to the citizens of the country in question, particularly on their health care sector. The goal of this viewpoint is to bring attention to the impact that economic sanctions can have on the health care system in the impacted nation.