Lebanon is witnessing remarkable activity in the field of illegal drug trade, which takes place under the eyes of the concerned officials, without directing to controlling the market or stopping some of the merchants and those involved in this file. From medicine bags to the marketing of drug selling sites, to the smuggling of subsidized drugs and then selling them on the black market, the “black trade” is taking place in plain sight without concern for the health of citizens.
These medicines, which are considered a salvation for the patient, have turned, due to the economic crisis, the greed of merchants and mafias, into a poison that kills the patient’s body, and he finds no one to fight it, whether from inside or outside the concerned institutions, but rather the concerned “colludes” with the mafia to escape the latter from responsibility. Instead of those concerned carrying out their tasks diligently and professionally, we see them announcing to the public the dates of inspection patrols, so that every corrupt person escapes responsibility.
Professor Fadi Nasr, a specialist in hematology and oncology, confirms to An-Nahar that “about 25-50 percent of immunotherapy drugs to treat cancer are forged and incorrect, and they are given in sweat, which allows us to examine them before giving them to the patient in the hospital. As a result of the drug crisis, and the consequences It has problems and alternatives, which are sometimes unhealthy, forged or expired.
He adds that “the source of these counterfeit medicines is most often Turkey and Syria. Some medical and laboratory examinations and reviews revealed to us that some of these medicines were not identical to the main medicine, and were forged or tampered with, or a metaphor for water and salt, which prompted us to conduct examinations and reviews of the company.” mother before giving it to the patient in the hospital.
For his part, the head of the “Barbara Nassar Association for Supporting Cancer Patients,” Hani Nassar, explains that the trade and smuggling of counterfeit medicines from some countries or subsidized ones and selling them again on the black market will remain active as a result of the inability to secure the required quantity to suffice all patients, and today it is enough for about 60 percent of them.
The seriousness of the issue is evident in the entry of individuals from the pharmaceutical sector into the ring of corruption, as some sell medicine to the patient at twice its official price in order to achieve greater profits. One of the patients informed me that she bought a box of medicine for 900,000 pounds from the pharmacy, noting that its price does not exceed 180,000 pounds; The reason that prompted her to pay the known is her need for it despite the exploitation that is taking place today.
On the other hand, Professor Nasr asserts that “counterfeited medicines carry negative and side effects on the patient’s health. But if the patient does not take the medicine, the disease develops in a rapid and dangerous way. Therefore, the solution lies in securing effective medicine in a legal way that avoids the patient risking his health,” pointing out that “The most counterfeited type of medicine is immunotherapy, which is very expensive and essential in treatment protocols.”
What Nasr is talking about is shared by the head of the Pharmacists Syndicate, Joe Salloum. In his opinion, “most of the smuggled medicines are forged, expired, or stored in the wrong way, and therefore the story is not that these medicines are ineffective, but rather the issue is more serious than that, because they may affect the patient’s life. For example, cancer medicines that are forged or A metaphor for salt and water affects the development and course of the tumor, and this prompted us to launch a pharmaceutical inspection campaign in cooperation with the Ministry of Health.
Salloum stresses that “pharmacies only sell authentic, authentic medicines at the official price, but research is taking place today in illegal dispensaries, shops, the black market, and online websites that aim to promote the trade in smuggled medicines. We must know that behind the trade in counterfeit medicines are networks considered the most dangerous in the world.” .
Salloum points out that “Turkish medicine is the biggest star in recent times, in addition to medicines that come from Iran, Turkey, Syria, India.. This forgery affects various medicines, and the cancer drug remains the main one because of its high cost.” Central. It is useless that some large hospitals seek to check these drugs through their laboratories and coordinate with the parent company, because these efforts remain limited to the framework of special cases, while what is required is a national treatment for the issue.
Today we are facing more than one crisis, the first of which is a crisis of confidence in the state and merchants who trade in people’s lives, and do not provide counterfeit and expired medicines, at a time when we do not find anyone moving to stop a merchant or hold one of the brokers accountable because of what they are doing with the patients’ lives. Therefore, the desperate patient seeks to resort to smuggled market medicines, because he has lost hope in everything related to power today.
And as long as the corruption files are still asleep in the drawers of the judges, including the file of Mona Baalbaki, people’s souls will remain suspended in the air indefinitely!