Tehran, Nov 23, IRNA -- The Health Ministry reported here Saturday that the financial costs attributed to premature deaths are estimated to be USD 19.5 billion annually.

The Deputy Health Minister Mohammad Ismail Akbari said each year in Iran over four to 5.3 million years are lost due to premature deaths "which is equivalent to country's total oil and non-oil revenues."

He also blamed the traffic-related and other types of accidents as the reason for these deaths.

He said most of the deaths under 50 years of age is associated with various accidents, and for the people over 50, heart and coronary-related diseases have been shown to be closely linked with premature death.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Akbari said that health is basis of a sustainable socio-economic development and "allocating sufficient investments in the sector is the fastest and most convenient approach for reducing poverty in the society."

He said reduction in income, dwindling purchasing power in working age individuals and loss of job-related motivation are all among important factors in sickness-related costs in the society.

As far as traffic accidents are concerned, Iranian roads are some of the most hazardous in the world. Iran has one of the highest rates of road accidents in the world with an average of 200,000 reported annually.

On average, over 15,000 people are killed and 87,000 injured in traffic-related accidents in the country annually. In statistical terms, one person is killed every 40 minutes and one injured every seven minutes.

Dilapidated vehicles, insufficient emergency road assistance, lack of communication facilities to swiftly relay information on traffic-related accidents and inadequate emergency centers on roads are the main causes of the high death toll in road accidents in the country, traffic experts say.

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