Lightning ( killer viruses) does strike twice in Iran

In 1918 the “Spanish Flu” swept over the world killing 50 million people and one of the worst hit countries was Iran. One has to wonder why Iran again? Are there any commonalities we can surface as to why Iran has been twice in 100 years?

Reading an excellent article by Amir Afkhami written in 2003 entitled, “The Iranian Experience with the 1918 Influenza Pandemic,”  ( Bulletin of the History of Medicine  , Summer 2003, gave me some good information to go on.

In depicting the environment of 1918 in Iran and comparing it to today’s surfaced some important facets.

Iran in  1918 was a ravaged nation , invaded and partially occupied by the Russians and British, with a fractured society. People were at their low ebb . Today the Iranians are certainly independent but still wracked by civil disturbances, still recovering from a horrendous war with Iraq, and under economic sanctions. The psychological state of the Iranian people is not buoyant to say the least. The psychological state of the populace has a great deal to do with their physical health.

iran protest

Iranian protest in Jan 2020

The  Iranian government  in 1918 was the lingering remnants of the corrupt Qajars, feeble and ineffective. They did not control their own country. Today they have a strong but economically weak government more interested in expansionism than the welfare of their people. The dual government of the civil authorities and the controlling symbiosis of the pulpit and the sword has the people divided and in tension.

In 1918, the Iranian people were close to a famine stage, especially in the rural areas. Their resistance to disease was very low. Today there is no famine in Iran but because of the stupid priorities of the Iranian regime, downgrading of  quality of life   issues to military and expansionist designs, bringing on sanctions, most Iranian people can barely pay their rent, and buy good food for nutrition.  Moreover a study indicates the Iranians suffer from a deficiency of vitamin D. This seems strange in that  sunshine, of which Iran has a surfeit, provides it. However the dress of women covered in black from head to foot, as well as a traditional avoidance of darkening the skin color, accounts for it in women.  Men in  a Muslim society  likewise avoid wearing scanty clothing. People believe that men who wear shorts are considered homosexual. Most always wear long sleeves.

Traditional beliefs and gender issues always complicate the medical field in the conservative Islamic countries ,and Iran,  especially under the Mullahs have engendered retrogression. In 1918, the  Iranians believed that an evil  wind, known as the “nakbushi” carried the disease. Even Iranian doctors believed that to be true. Today traditional beliefs still inhibit up to date treatment of illness.  Winds still play an important part in Islamic-Persian belief systems. Cutting through the cultural barriers has only been partially accomplished. Many, in 1918, just gave up hope, crawling to the nearest mosque to die. Today there is little confidence in the ruling authorities to provide the required care and home remedies are used. Some clerics were initially telling g their flocks that a good Muslim would not contract the disease.

In 1918, some of the first to die were government officials, creating another void in authority to combat the disease. Ironically it seems that many higher officials in the  current clerical Iranian regime were the first ones affected.

The health care system in 1918 was, at best rudimentary, and today, despite glowing reports  from the World Health Organization (WHO) , and other organizations with a vested interest in conveying an optimistic view of the Iranian health system, the Iranian health care today is broken, especially in convalescent care. A good part of the problem is the low esteem accorded nurses in the Islamic tradition. Iran only has half the required nurses and the care given patients has been surveyed as abysmal. Patients complain of being treated with “no dignity,” confined in unhygienic conditions, no privacy,  no communication with doctors, who are much too few, especially in the rural areas.  The medical staff expects family members to stay with the patients and provide most of the care.

Iran  provides funding for medical education in return for the graduated doctors to serve a certain period of time in rural areas, but, in fact, few do for any length of time.

Finally as written in my last post  middle easterners are a people who do not like distance from one another, especially family members and trying to impose social distances is very difficult even for an authoritarian regime like that of Iran.

 

 

 

 

About Tex

Retired artillery colonel, many years in a number of positions in the Arab world. Graduate of the US Military Academy and the American University of Beirut. MA in Arab studies from the American University in Beirut along with 18 years as Middle East Seminar Director at the JFK Special Warfare Center and School, Served in Vietnam with 1st Inf Division, Assignments in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, plus service with Trucial Oman Scouts in the Persian Gulf. Traveled to every Arab country on the map including Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
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5 Responses to Lightning ( killer viruses) does strike twice in Iran

  1. Stephen Franke says:

    Hi again, Tex. Kudos to you for your insightful uttreatment of that comparative part of Iranian history. Will comment soonest on several of your earlier great posts on topics of mutual interest, as I am hospitalized here in San Pedro while fighting a sudden and debilitating case of pneumonia for another week (super-bummer all around…). Best regards to you and yours. Sincerely, Steve… “FAOs Forward!”

    • Tex says:

      Steve just read your response and im hoping you are doing ok now. Its been a long two weeks dodging the bullet and with not much to do i have no incentive to do much of anything. It seems the more time i have the less i do. Anyway get well steve. We need your unmatched expertise

      • Stephen Franke says:

        Hi again
        Tex.

        Thanks for your supportive note.
        Now entering second week at this convalescent hospital complex (58 years old and getting a “dowager” look in its older spac). Should be discharged for home recovry program maybe by Wed.

        Pecking away on this cumbersome cellphone. ** Ref yourgreat article in LC News about Russian military advisors : will send revision to comments about induction and preparation of Russians drafted after getting their degrees in Arabic / Semitic languages. They complete BCT and then AIT-like follow-on specialized training to “militarize” their Arabic.. all in MSA, no dialect familiarization at all. Their schoolhouse is tht Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow. Graduates of that year-long and intensive program are commissioned as 2Lts and assigned as “military interpreters” to the Soviet / Russian Army units (i.e. units based in Germany) or the respective “Group of Soviet / Russian Military Technical Specialists in (Country). * Glad to send an excellent article on the subject by an academic in Helsinki, Finland. Found it by pure chance. Seems those mim interpreters were considere second-class and invisible “non-persons a la the advisors they supported in profile conflicts and other overseas advisory / training missions, most recently in Afghanistan and now Syria. More later. Best regards to you and yours. — Steve

      • Stephen Franke says:

        Hi yet again, Tex.
        Per my earlier reply this evening with overview of the program at RUAF’s Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow for orienting and training drafted university graduates with basic fluencies in foreign languages.

        * That year-long program seems akin to a combination of an OCS and DLI at one location. The MIFL also provides some basic acquisitio language training (BALT in DA-speak) to officers selected for duty as advisors / trsiners of foreign military counterparts. As you mention in your great article jn LC News, after arrival in the host country, for various reasons they let those perishable skills perish, mostly by relying on their organization’s assigned military linguists and / or reverting to English as the preferred or default “middle-band working language.” As I recall, English is taught in most RUAF military schools, starting with their military academies.

        * Best regards and good night,
        Steve
        San Pedro, California

      • Tex says:

        thanks Steve as always info I never get anywhere else

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