Water Supply, Healthcare, and Sanitation in Iran - Research Paper Example

 Islamic Republic of Iran Iran is located in the Middle East; the capital is Tehran. It is the eighteenth largest country in the world. Iran has a population of seventy eight million. Through modern research it has been found that Iran has established satisfactory developments in sanitation and healthcare. However, the country still suffers from limited human rights and drug abuse. Iran has been working together to improve their society for the future. In this paper first I will define key terms and give a background of the situation in water supply and sanitation in Iran as well as healthcare. Next I will outline the important positions that make these an accomplishment of Iran. Lastly, I will focus on the pressing problems faced by Iran, such as drug abuse and human rights. Water supply and sanitation has become a major accomplishment in Iran through technology and redesign. In the 1980s polluted water supplies remained one of the main reasons behind illnesses and diseases[Fed04]. The water content contained high levels of parasitic and gastrointestinal diseases because of inefficient water filters and drains. Tehran and other cities had chlorinated water systems but such was not the case in smaller villages in Iran. By 1986 Tehran still had not developed a sewage system serving the entire city. Most of the other cities had only incomplete sewage systems, and in small villages there were none at all. The main goal for Iran was to increase entrance to urban water supply; the Ministry of Energy was responsible for making this possible. Certain steps needed to be taken to accomplish water supply and sanitation. The main idea was to change the fundamental sector reform that had taken place in 1990. The new Provincial water and wastewater companies’ law of September 1990 assisted in this. In 2003 the government of Iran and The World Bank worked together to come up with a sector strategy that would make progress in cost recovery and collection along with an increase in efficiency. In the November of 2008 the Iranian government announced that it had enhanced the dams in the country. Dams were reconstructed to serve as hydropower generation, irrigation, and flood control. One of the dams that were reconstructed was the Karun-3 that is now a hydroelectric dam on the Karun River in Khuzestan, Iran. This dam was redesigned to meet energy demand and flood control. Iran can now proudly state that water supply and sanitation has been upgraded in recent years, giving substance to better their community. Iran has been reshaped over the last few years thanks to the accomplishment of the new sectors; the water supply has increased from 75.5% to 98% since 1980s. There has been an increase in quantity of water supplied while its quality has also refined. There are still many countries working to confirm their citizens with enough clean water available and safe water sources. Countries in the Middle East have not accomplished the quality water sanitation that Iran has worked on; for example, Morocco has 971 cubic meters of available water while Egypt has 859 cubic meters. Iran is just with 1,955 cubic meters and is forecasting to reach about 3,000 by the next century. The percentage of drinking water available in urban populations throughout Iran is 98% and in rural populations the percentage stands at 83%[Buc07]. Iran was aware that water supply and sanitation was a problem and took steps to improve its quality to make satisfactory developments an achievement. Albert Schweitzer once said, “Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory”. Iran made sure that they reached and achieved an acceptable healthcare system to provide happiness to their people. This accomplishment was influenced by the Iranian government, in particular The Ministry of Energy. Healthcare in Iran including medical sector’s market value was expected to reach US $31 billion by 2007[IBP06]. Article 29 of the Constitution allows Iranians the right to have the highest attainable level of health, which includes basic health care and prescription drugs plus vaccination programs. The network of Iran’s health system is a top to bottom diagram starting with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education; underneath are branches such as teaching hospitals, district’s health network, schools, urban health centers, and district general hospitals. Iran has worked closely with The Ministry of Health to provide planning, monitoring, and supervision of health related activities for the public and private areas. About 90% of the Iranians are under coverage of at least one kind of health insurance[Ale10]. There are four main public health insurers. Social security is one of the largest insurers that run clinics and hospitals in urban areas. Medical service insurance is available for government employees, students, and rural residents. The next two insurances are Military and Emdade-Emam (uninsured poor). Iran has already accomplished basic coverage to all Iranians by carefully planning and developing a system that worked with the community. During the last 20 years Iran made outstanding progress in the health sector; during this period the life expectancy for both males and females, has increased rapidly. In the 1990s the average life expectancy for males was 61, for women it was 65, and an average of both sexes was 63. A2008 estimate claims the average for both sexes went up to 70.86[Cen09]. Since the progress Iran has made in healthcare it is noticeable that the accomplishments in healthcare affect the population as a whole. The local pharmaceutical industry aims for high-quality and low cost medicines. Iran has developed a hi-tech biological product that has worked together with pharmaceutical sectors. In 2001 it was expectant for pharmaceutical companies to produce generic medicines. This helped advance locally produced medications because of the competitive environment the pharmaceutical companies are forced into. Iran has successfully lowered cost and improved quality by establishing branded generic medicines. The government of Iran has committed large amounts of resources to the pharmaceutical sector as direct subsidies. Iran has accomplished a healthcare system that allows their population to take advantage of multiple insurances plans. The government did not stop there; they made further progress that will allow better life for generations to come. Iran has invested 2.5 billion dollars in stem cell research that is expected to last five years[Val10]. The country is driven and ready to compete in the world market of health care. Iran has made accomplishments such that they have bettered its people. The next step Iran needs to take is in drug abuse. Drug abuse is a pressing problem for the country leading to theft, murder, suicide, violence, and divorce. One reason why it is such a problem is the country’s location. Afghanistan is the world’s biggest supplier of opium and borders Iran on the eastern side. The availability of cocaine and synthetic drugs is rapidly increasing as well. Since 2000 Afghan opium production has fallen because of their new leader Mullah Omar. Mullah Omar banned opium cultivation that led to higher prices for the people of Iran. There are still main trafficking routes for cannabis, heroin, opium, and morphine that are all being produced in Afghanistan. Opiates are narcotics that are found in the latex sap of the opium poppy. The active opium is morphine, codeine, papaverine, and thebaine. Iran has reached extreme measures of drug abuse that is affecting their health. In a worldwide ranking in the prevalence of opiate addiction Iran ranks first with 2.8% of its population addicted. There are many reasons behind this addiction. The lack of economic prediction led many young individuals to drugs as a way to cope. Also, because of the lack of freedom in the country, people think that by taking drugs they can rebel and be free. They might think that the government cannot tell you what to do and how to be when you are “high”. “Today, the youth are bored with what they have and wish for things they haven’t got. This is rooted in Western culture and should be confronted with use of cultural tools” [Tho02]. All the talk about drug abuse is making young people curious; if something is not done the demand could increase significantly killing many citizens. There have been cocaine attacks in Iran, but nothing compared to the trafficking of opiates from Afghanistan. 40% of prisoners in Iran have been convicted on drug related charges. This is costing the government millions of dollars every year. If the government focused more on the problem of drug abuse their country would see a healthier lifestyle all around. The people of Iran cannot go to a local pub for drinks and a friendly gathering or to a music club. They do not have the social lives that people take for granted every day. Iran’s people are in danger and need saving; they need somewhere to go and have a good time without the need of feeling addicted to drugs. Right now the only good time they are having is getting “high” for a few hours and forgetting about all their problems ahead of them. That is not the solution; forgetting your problems for a few hours only makes things worst. Having a place to drink or dance would eliminate people from staying home and hiding from the real world. Iran has lost close to 3,500 police offices and security guards to the anti-drug campaign that annually cost the country almost one billion, not including about 8.5 billion dollars in annual damages that has affected the economy. It is unfortunate that one of the solutions to helping lower drug abuse in Iran is to multiply the borders with drug enforcers and drug dogs. But even having more officers and dogs at the borders could lead to more deaths. Iranians are looking for a permanent fix and before making addicted people angry we need to take a step back. The step might go as far back as the middle schools in Iran. Having classes that discuss the dangers of addiction could help many young adults. It could also help their families; kids would be gaining knowledge and talking to their loved ones about how they are slowing killing themselves. Making sure that kids are hearing about the underlying risks at an early age and continuing to learn through school will make a difference. I know from experiences that when my uncle smoked cigarettes I would hide or throw them away whenever I saw a pack because of the health education I received in middle school. I learned how they were slowly killing people whom I cared for. By showing my anger toward my uncle I made him work on quitting which is the first step. Another breakthrough Iran could take is random drug test at work or at homes. Drug tests could help millions of people. By performing a simple drug test at workplace many parents would be forced to quit or lose their jobs. Having your job on line should be a rude awakening to clean up their act. Drug testing should be part of graduating from high school since then the number of young adults experimenting with drugs would decrease. Knowing you will be drug tested at work would help the working class get motivated to quit drugs. Their job, house, food on the table and kids are on the line if they fail a drug test. Losing their job because of a failed testing would backtrack their families. Iran has a problem and she is not looking in the right direction for a solution. By educating at a young age and random drug testing, numbers could decrease significantly. People are getting lost in the world of drugs and are losing forces for a better future. With the help of the government that would prove set standards in education and drug testing a lot could be accomplished in the next couple of years. A major problem that has hit the Iranian society hard is their freedom, most specifically human rights. The issue of limited human rights is not only being criticized from international human rights activists, writers, and non-government organizations (NGOs created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government), the government of Iran has also been getting bad press for restrictions and punishments. Some of the punishments include torture, rape, beatings and killings. Punishments that are legal in Iran which violate international human rights are freedom of speech (including press), unequal treatment according to religion and gender. Human rights should be a life choice, but for Iranians choice is not an option. Iran has tried to change the human rights act. The moderate Iranian president Mohammad Khatami was elected in 1997 and one of his goals was to improve the human rights situation. Mohammad Khatami focused on banning of torture, increasing freedom of speech, and gender equality. Sadly, his hard work and dedication never paid off. The Guardian Council terminated all; the council has 12 members that are considered very powerful in any deciding factor of Iran. The council is there to ensure a better living for the people so it is mind boggling as to why they decided not to work with Mohammad Khatami for a more enjoyable future for everyone. The constitution does state equal rights among races (article 19) ethnic groups and gender equality (article 20), protection of the rights of women (article 21), freedom of expression (article 23) and freedom of press and communication (article 24). By looking at the articles in the constitution everything might look normal. There seems not be to a problem in human rights among the Iranians. But once you take a close look into the constitution it describes a “catch-22”. A “catch-22” is known for taking good ideas and having a negative twist. For example, if a teacher says that the quiz is going to be postponed till the next week, the student gets excited. Then the teacher goes on to state the catch-22, which means the quiz will include more chapters and will be more difficult since the students now have more time to study. It is a way of altering a good thing. For Iran they use the catch-22 saying by stating “within the limits of law”. The government has the authority to alter what the constitution states. It can determine what comes under the limits of law that is unfair for the Iranians. Not only does the government get to decide the wrong from right, the people are affected physically. Harsh punishment is part of the problem. Shari’a is known to be a discussion on the duties of Muslims and is taken from religion. There are two parts that fit into Shari’a which are Hudud (fixed punishment) and Qisas (retribution). If someone is committing offenses against Iran it is conceded to be Hudud. Almost everything else would be under Qisas, like rape, homosexual intercourse, burglary, theft, and rebellions against the Islamic authorities. Harsh punishment would usually be under Hudud. A group of five burglars were convicted and sentenced to amputation of right hand and left foot. They were still able to walk but with a cane or crutches. In some other cases it is more fatal; other groups were stoned to death and it was made sure that small stones were used so the person is not killed instantly. The amount of time Iran spends in torturing its people is disgusting. It should be spending their time looking on ways to fix the government allowing people to have a fair say. I cannot even fathom the realization that people are allowed to stone others for a punishment. Gender issues for women are not always the same for men. They consider a woman’s life to be half of that of a man. If a woman was on trial she would need one more female to help her to make her testimony equivalent to a male. Women do not receive the privileges they deserve. In order for women to work outside the home or even leave the country they would need their husband’s permission. “Discrimination her (in Iran) is not just in the constitution. As a woman, if I want to get a passport to leave the country, have surgery, even to breathe almost, I must have permission from my husband”[Col05]. In today’s world I am amazed that Iranian women need permission to live their lives. They have the right to be themselves and make responsible choices on their own. Their culture is outdated making it harder to change the way gender issues will be rewritten. If gender equality existed it could take pressure off marriage and more and more women would be seen showing their true value and what they have to offer to Iran. Women have a lot to offer to the community of Iran and with changes in the constitution gender issues could be taken to a level the country has never seen before. Harsh punishments and gender issues are affecting human rights; other categories that need help are freedom of expression and media, freedom and equality of religion, political freedom, and children’s rights. Freedom of expression and media refers to Article 24 of the constitution - the government has the right to censor and restrict whatever they feel is offensive. There is no room for freedom anywhere. The government is telling the Iranians who to be and who not to be. Making people not show and express themselves is only hurting the country. Freedom and equality of religion hits hard in Iran and it is expected that everyone in the community would be having a religious faith. The main religious beliefs in Iran are Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Bahá'í Faith[Jam06]. Iranians are allowed to practice Zoroastrian, Judaism and Christian in ceremonies and in public. Bahá'í Faith believers are not so lucky; the faith has been banned. The government helped spread the word around Iran that Bab believers were followers of God’s enemies. That led to aggressive attacks on the Bahá'í Faith people. Bahá'í schools were shut down and it was claimed that Bahá'í marriage would not be legal in Iran. The government is powerful and can do anything they feel is right. The government disowned the faith because they did not believe there is any room for human rights. Human rights should allow people to believe in what/whoever they want. In 1979 Bahá'í things started to turn for the worst. They did not have permission to attend schools and could not hold government jobs. Preventing people from getting government jobs does not allow for the entering of new ideas. If Bahá'í Faith was welcomed it could help give different views on current situations. The government does not feel the need to welcome the faith because they do not see it as a religion but a political organization. This example shows how much of an issue human rights is in Iran. The government is controlling its people and does not let individuals have any kind of freedom. It tells them what can and cannot be done and even if a religion should exist. People have feelings and they should have the right to express and practice whatever beliefs they wish to. Political freedom and children’s rights are considered foolish. The government does not agree with people having the right to voice their opinions through media, religion, or politics. Children in Iran are held accountable for their actions. They hold children punishments to extreme measures; children under 18 can be sentenced to a death penalty. It is disgusting to even think that a minor could receive a death penalty for a crime they committed before the age of puberty. Iran has a lot to work on but they need to see the problems that directly affect the people of their country; they have talked on the issues and taken steps in changing the death penalty but to no successful result. Fixing the constitution would bring people together. It would allow for a new start, with no more judging on who you are. A new report I came across was a 22-year-old woman named Nahal Sahabi who committed suicide. She did not see a reason for living “Nahal is one of the many young Iranians who find the present unbearable and the future too uncertain to be worth living for”[Hum11]. Nahal is not the first to take this dramatic step and will certainly not be the last. The feeling of not knowing what your country holds for you in future can be scary. It can be scary because of the fact that your rights are not exactly yours. Your rights are held in your husband’s or the government’s hands who do not give you the life you want to live or explore. Iran can help their problem of lack of human rights through protests. Having a protest can give your word another try. It can help people in seeing what you are committed to fixing and hopefully join you on the path to changing the constitution. Reconstructing the constitution would be a way to get everyone working together, no matter what race or religion you belong to and believe in. It would also be a way of gaining new perspectives regarding other people around you. Reconstructing the constitution could provide jobs for women in Iran without any kind of restrictions. It could be a new lifestyle that turns out to become a major accomplishment for counties around Iran. Iran needs to find a possible solution for their pressing problems before human rights are further held away and the country gets worst for the people to live in. High suicide rates could be controlled significantly if people are allowed to have their rights and are given real hopes of a bright future. Iran is an oil rich county but having oil as a resource does not make the country and neither does it show what it truly is. Iran has been working persistently on access to water and sanitation throughout the country and providing healthcare to their people. The country has been striving for a more suitable lifestyle. Although Iran is making progress on other levels it is high time for her to give more time and efforts on educating people on drug abuse and redesigning the human rights in the constitution. Iranians are becoming hopeless in the future ahead but with the help of the Iranian government could be hope again for the communities. Every day is a new day with a new aim and that is what Iranians need to remember. There is hope in changing the demanding problems into accomplishments. Graph 1 Works Cited Fed04: , (Federal Research Division 168), Buc07: , (Bucknall and WorldBank 41), IBP06: , (IBP USA 232), Ale10: , (Preker, Zweifel and Schellekens 75-6), Cen09: , (Central Intelligence Agency 279), Val10: , (Nasr), Tho02: , (Watson 289), Col05: , (Freeman), Jam06: , (Georgas 380), Hum11: , (Human Rights & Democracy for Iran), Read More