Iran’s Health Ministry has issued a licence for the country’s first public centre for alcohol detoxification, which will operate out of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
ISNA reports that on Friday August 1, Mohmmadreza Sargolzayi, one of the clinic staff, said: “A while ago, with the reports of a serious increase in alcohol addiction, the Ministry of Health gave permits to a number of private clinics to offer medical intervention services for patients addicted to alcohol; however, this is the first time a public medical centre will offer these services to patients.”
A report released last year by the World Health Organization pegged Iran’s alcohol consumption per consumer as the nineteenth highest in the world.
The report indicates that each Iranian alcohol consumer ingests, on average, 25 litres of alcohol per year, which is twice the consumption rate of an American citizen and even higher than that of a Russian citizen.
Alcohol consumption is illegal in Iran; however, reports indicate that 200,000 active dealers offer alcoholic beverages in Iran.
Between 60 million and 80 million litres of alcoholic beverages are smuggled into Iran each year, and homemade varieties of alcoholic beverages are also available and privately sold.
