ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A more than century-old healthcare facility in Tehran has been rendered unable to deliver services, the United Nations global health chief reported on Friday, adding that his organization has “verified over 20 attacks” on healthcare in Iran since early March, marking the first days of the Middle East war.
In a statement on X, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that “multiple attacks on health care have been reported in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in recent days,” noting that the well-known Pasteur Institute of Iran “sustained significant damage and was rendered unable to continue delivering health services.”
Ghebreyesus added that the institute, established in 1920, has been “operating for over a century in multiple areas of medical research” and “plays an important role in protecting and promoting population health, including in emergencies.” He also noted that “two of its departments have been working with WHO as collaborating centres.”
Multiple attacks on health have been reported in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in recent days amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The Pasteur Institute in Iran sustained significant damage and was rendered unable to continue delivering health services.
The Institute… pic.twitter.com/RHILHhy5Yv