Deadly Sanctions: Economic Measures Take More Lives Than Armed Conflicts

Economic sanctions against poor countries claim more than half a million lives annually, which is five times higher than the death toll from military conflicts. The shocking data covers half a century of international restrictions.

As reported by TUT.AZ, this alarming statistic is presented in a large-scale study published on July 23 in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet Global Health.

Scientists conducted a comprehensive analysis of the consequences of sanctions policy against 152 countries. The results showed that restrictive measures imposed by the United States and the European Union deliver a much more devastating blow to the population than sanctions under the auspices of the United Nations.

"It is difficult to find other forms of political pressure that cause such large-scale damage to human life and yet continue to be widely used," the study emphasizes.

It is also noted that since 1960, the share of countries subjected to unilateral sanctions in the world GDP has grown from 5.4% to 24.7%.