Page 14 - IRANRptSep21

until late September because of record low levels of precipitation and hot temperatures, Fars reported.
Tehran’s power outages are described as the worst endured since the 1980s war with Iraq.
2.9 Polls & Sociology
Iran’s Gini Index worsens to 0.4006
Analysis ‘shows Iran among countries facing severe oxygen shortages amid pandemic’
Iran’s Gini Index worsened to 0.4006 in the last fiscal year (March 2020 to March 2021) from the previous year’s 0.3992, Persian-language daily Shargh has reported, citing the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI).
The Gini index, or Gini coefficient, was devised by Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1912. It is usually referred to as the most popular measure of socioeconomic inequality, particularly in terms of income and wealth distribution.
The Gini index ranks income inequality on a scale of zero, which equates to no inequality, to one, which indicates the maximum level of inequality. The closer the number is to one, the more wealth is concentrated in the hands of fewer people and the bigger the income disparity.
Given the way the scale is constructed, a modest-sounding difference in the Gini ratio actually implies a wide difference in inequality.
Dozens of countries including Iran are reportedly facing severe oxygen shortages because of surging COVID-19 cases, with the “total collapse” of health systems a feared prospect.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism analysed data provided by the Every Breath Counts Coalition, the NGO Path and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to ascertain the nations that are most exposed to running out of oxygen. It also studied data on global vaccination rates.
Nineteen countries around the world—including India, Argentina, Iran, Nepal, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, Costa Rica, Ecuador and South Africa—were found to be most at risk after recording huge increases in oxygen demand since March—rises of at least 20%—while having vaccinated less than one fifth of their populations.
Many of the countries faced oxygen shortages before the pandemic, Leith Greenslade, coordinator of the Every Breath Counts Coalition, told the Guardian, with the extra need pushing health systems to the brink.
Robert Matiru, who chairs the Covid-19 Oxygen Emergency Taskforce, told the bureau: “We could see the total collapse of health systems, especially in countries with very fragile systems.”
Several countries have demanded that companies which produce liquid oxygen divert products from their industrial clients to hospitals. Medical oxygen makes up just 1% of global liquid oxygen production. However, data from Gasworld Business Intelligence, which analyses the global industrial gases market, shows that many of the countries most in need would still see shortages even if all local oxygen production was diverted to hospitals.
In Iraq, gas companies can produce about 64,000 cubic metres of liquid oxygen a day, a third of what the country’s COVID-19 patients need. The World Bank has warned that many countries have not applied for emergency loans available to help them upgrade oxygen systems.
14 IRAN Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com