Page 48 - IRANRptJun20

9.1.8 ​Healthcare sector news
Iranian insurers call for government help as coronavirus payout pressure mounts
University of Tehran experts develop open-source ventilator to treat COVID-19 patients
The Iranian Insurers’ Organisation—an industry lobby group—has requested financial support from Iran’s government as it contends with the country’s growing death toll from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to ​Donyaye Eqtesad.​
Insurance companies, call centres and secondary agents in offices around the country suspended much of their work given closure notices issued by the government as the outbreak worsened, but following their return to operation they have found themselves buckling under the weight of applications and payouts.
Some 400,000 people are employed in the insurance sector in Iran, a country of 83mn. The industry is now facing a perfect storm of policy auto-renewals together with payouts, despite not being able to raise the base prices of policies.
The medical and life insurance segments have reportedly taken the biggest hits in recent days, with huge payouts becoming due.
Also, unemployment benefit, which is backed by insurance, has skyrocketed in recent weeks, with some 600,000 people officially laid off as a consequence of the economic effects of the pandemic in Iran. Earlier, as part of preparations to deal with the outbreak, insurance companies were told by Central Insurance of Iran to recapitalise and meet new minimum liquidity rules ahead of the impending payout surge.
The government in 2017 set IRR2.5 trillion ($65.18mn at the official exchange rate) as the minimum capital requirement for starting a reinsurance firm and IRR1tn as the requirement for starting an insurance firm.
University of Tehran experts have designed an open-source ventilator for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients, Iran's LIT has reported, citing the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) j​ ournal.
Hadi Moradi, an associate professor of the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the university, is working on the open-source ventilator to help those who need assistance in breathing in oxygen due to the effects of the coronavirus. He was reportedly hoping to make it public for global production in the very near future.
Moradi and fellow engineering professors S.K. Setarehdan of the University of Tehran and Morteza Behzadnasab of the Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, also in Tehran, were set to share their design with IEEE members.
Moradi told the IEEE journal: “Hospitals around the world are experiencing a shortage of ventilators, which are commonly used to treat COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory distress.
“Because of the sophisticated structure and high production cost of the machines, it is not possible to rapidly manufacture them in large quantities. Therefore, we are trying to come up with a simple-to-build automatic Ambu [automatic respiration control device] or respirator during this worldwide pandemic.
“Medical treatment shows that if respiratory support is provided to COVID-19 patients, many of them can survive the virus. These ventilators can help save lives ... having low-cost and easy-to-build ventilators allows engineers around the world to build the machines for their local communities.”
48​ IRAN Country Report June 2020 www.intellinews.com