Table 6.

Themes, sub-themes and codes identified from interviews with patients

Theme	Sub-theme	Code
The direct effect of sanctions on population health	Impact of sanctions on availability of medicines and services	- Medicine shortage and access challenges, especially for orphan drugs - Difficulties in accessing and availability of medical supplies and equipment
	Impact of sanctions on costs of medicines and services	- Increased drastic fluctuations in service costs - Increased out-of-pocket payments to access health care and medicines - Medicine shortage following increased prices and impaired access
	Impact of sanctions on quality of medicine and services	- Replacement of quality medical supplies and equipment with lower-quality material - Obtaining medicines from the black market with questionable quality - Increased counterfeit medical supplies and equipment in the market
	Tendency to prioritize patients within the families	- Prioritizing comorbidities in favor of treating emergency diseases and ignoring chronic ones - Underemphasizing chronic conditions, due to financial constraints imposed by sanctions, in favor of emergency situations - Prioritizing healthcare needs of multiply ill family members - Re-prioritizing life needs/necessities versus health/disease management needs
	Delayed treatment	- Ignoring symptoms - Delaying treatment - Treatment complications - Increased treatment cost
The side effects of sanctions on peoples’ lifestyle (health-related)	Frustration due to inability to improve living conditions	- Increased living costs - Despair and hopelessness - Increased feelings of instability, especially in financial matters - Uncertainty about the future - Distrust and despondency about the future - Reduced ability to afford and fulfill basic daily necessities, such as food and medical expenses - Reduced ability to afford well-being and cultural activities.