Iran Faces Escalating Insulin Crisis: Soaring Prices and Widespread Shortages Hit Patients Hard

A severe and escalating shortage of insulin and essential medicines in Iran is pushing millions of diabetes patients into a state of uncertainty, financial strain, and deteriorating health. The unprecedented rise in insulin prices, combined with the regime’s gradual removal of preferential currency for life-saving drugs, has transformed basic treatment into an unaffordable luxury for many.

Insulin Becomes a “Luxury Commodity” After Currency Policy Shift

In recent months, prices for newer types of insulin—such as glargine, rapid, and degludec—have surged dramatically. The widely used insulin “Ryzodeg,” regarded as the most effective option for numerous patients, is now imported at free-market rates following the removal of subsidized currency. Pharmacies are reporting that this vital drug has effectively become a high-priced item that is unavailable to most of the population.

As a result, countless patients are being forced back to older formulations like Regular and NPH, which are associated with higher blood-sugar volatility and less effective long-term disease management.

Despite the life-sustaining nature of insulin, pharmacies in Tehran and other major cities are now rationing distribution. Patients with prescriptions often find themselves turned away. Many pharmacies respond with the phrase: “We have no quota,” prompting patients to search across multiple locations in hopes of securing a single vial.

Official Claims Contradict Widespread Reality

While Iran’s Food and Drug Administration spokesperson downplays the crisis, claiming the shortage is limited to a single type of imported insulin, both pharmacists and patients report a vastly different reality. The price of degludec now exceeds 900,000 tomans, forcing low-income diabetics to choose between inadequate older insulins or unbearable financial strain.

Iran currently has at least 7.5 million diabetes patients, with estimates nearing nine million. The true number continues to rise, influenced by economic hardship, worsening nutrition, and increasing obesity rates.

A Nationwide Drug Shortage Expands

The insulin crisis reflects a broader collapse in Iran’s pharmaceutical supply chain. Over recent months:

• More than 200 widely used medications have become scarce or completely unavailable.
• Kidney-disease drugs, antibiotics, hormone medications, and even basic supplements such as Omega-3 and Vitamin B12 are facing severe shortages and inflated prices.

Vitamin B12 ampoules have risen more than 228% in a short period, while the French influenza vaccine is now selling for up to 3 million tomans in some pharmacies. Families, especially the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, are increasingly forced to choose between medication and daily living expenses.

Corruption, Smuggling, and Hoarding Fuel the Crisis

Health-sector corruption, unchecked middlemen, and widespread pharmaceutical smuggling are major contributors to this disaster. Price differences between Iran and neighboring countries have incentivized the so-called “reverse smuggling” of subsidized Iranian medicines into Iraq and Afghanistan. Official estimates suggest that this illicit trade could be worth as much as five trillion tomans.

Simultaneously, large hidden drug warehouses are continually being discovered across the country, revealing deliberate hoarding and supply manipulation aimed at generating profits in the black market.

Regime Priorities Leave Patients Behind

Rather than addressing international restrictions or engaging in serious negotiations to ease sanctions, the regime continues to allocate Iran’s limited foreign currency reserves to missile programs, regional interventions, and support for proxy groups. These priorities further pressure the pharmaceutical industry, leaving patients to bear the burden of the regime’s strategic choices.

Rising Costs Push Diabetes Management Out of Reach

In addition to the cost of insulin, the prices for diabetes monitoring tools have soared. A single pack of blood-glucose test strips now exceeds 500,000 tomans, forcing patients to cut back on the frequency of testing. This perilous reduction increases the risk of kidney damage, vision loss, heart failure, and diabetic ulcers.

The Health Ministry reports that 30% of diabetes patients develop chronic ulcers, many of which eventually require amputation.

Alarming Trends in Diabetes Prevalence

The overall trend is concerning:

• Diabetes prevalence has surged over 30% since 2016.
• The average age of onset has dropped to 18–20 years.
• Economic hardship has driven families toward cheap, high-calorie foods, exacerbating diabetes and prediabetes issues.

In Iran, one out of every three deaths is linked to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension—conditions that are preventable but require regular screening, stable treatment supplies, and affordable medication.

A Structural Collapse, Not a Temporary Shortage

Iran’s spiraling drug crisis highlights a systemic failure rooted in political priorities, mismanagement, and corruption. With skyrocketing drug prices, dwindling supplies, and empty pharmacy shelves, millions of Iranians suffering from diabetes, heart disease, or respiratory illness now face a grim choice: reduce treatment or abandon it altogether.

This choice directly correlates with rising deaths, increased hospitalizations, and a deteriorating public health landscape—conditions that starkly contrast the regime’s claims that sanctions are a “blessing” and that external pressures have minimal impact on Iran’s economy.