Employees of Khomeini Hospital sell their kidneys to survive

Being unpaid for more than 11 months, employees of Khomeini Hospital in Karaj are reportedly selling their kidneys in order to overcome economic difficulties.

A member of city council of Karaj, Ghadir Mahdavi, detailed his visit to the hospital, saying: “When I arrived at the health center, I witnessed disturbing scenes which saddened me. Unable to pay the housing rent or their children’s university tuition for months and due to economic pressure caused by months of nonpayment, the staff are selling their kidneys. They had serious grievances, and of course they were right.”

The employees of Khomeini Hospital in Karaj stopped working from September 29 to October 5, 2018, in protest to the nonpayment of 11 months of their salaries. They chanted, “Karaj does not need a shopping mall, it needs a medical center.”

The employees of the hospital, including nurses, doctors, and the rest of the staff, have repeatedly protested against their undetermined situation. Previously, on July 23 and 24, 2018, the employees of the Khomeini Hospital held a sit-in for two days at the emergency department of the hospital in protest to the nonpayment of their salaries.

Growing poverty in Iran:

With over 150,000 million barrels of proven oil reserves, Iran owns the third or fourth largest oil reserve (based on different types of estimation) among oil-producing countries. Only second to Russia, Iran has also one the largest gas reserves in the world.

Iran is also ranked among 15 major mineral-rich countries, having the world’s largest zinc reserves, second largest copper reserves, 9th largest iron reserves, 10th largest uranium reserves, etc. The list goes on.

According to a recent study by the Iranian regime’s Islamic Parliament Research Center, while accounting only for one percent of the world population, Iran has over seven percent of its minerals.

But despite all its riches, 80 percent of Iran’s population live under the poverty line.

Poverty has become so common in Iran that, in addition to recurring demonstrations and street protests about this phenomena, state-run media are also broadcasting shocking reports.