“A coincidence revealed that I contracted the most insidious diseases, to start a treatment journey in a country where hospitalization has become a monopoly for the rich. The medicine is missing and sold on the black market, and the patient is left to his fate as he struggles with death in the arena of pain.”
“why me”? A question that has not left Soraya since the doctor informed her that she had joined a long list of women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, after she went to him for a routine examination that any woman must undergo when she reaches the age of 40, and the radiograph reveals what any woman fears.
A year and a half of suffering so far, during which Soraya underwent surgery and chemotherapy, during which she tasted “pain that the dictionaries of the world cannot describe,” she tells Al-Hurra website, “The ugliest days I’ve been through, which I don’t even like to remember, are the ones that started My hair fell out, I hated the mirror, my appearance changed to the extent that I no longer knew myself, my psyche was shattered, and I stood unable to do anything until securing the price of my treatment to face cancer is not an easy thing.”
A few days ago, social networking sites in Lebanon were buzzing with the news of the artist, Dina Hayek, suffering from breast cancer, before confirming this by re-posting tweets through her official account on “Twitter”, so that it became clear that she had discovered her disease last March, by chance, after the doctor intended Six months before the periodic examination, she is now undergoing treatment sessions in a Beirut hospital.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with the aim of enabling patients to detect it in its early stages to defeat it and to complete their lives normally. Unfortunately, the economic situation in Lebanon prevents, according to the head of the Barbara Nassar Association, Hani Nassar, “without the ability of a large number of people.” Many women are required to take an x-ray to detect the disease, or receive treatment when it is discovered, due to the loss of the drug or its high price, and even death has become very painful in our country due to the lack of morphine.”
Breast cancer has overtaken lung cancer and has become the most common type of malignant tumor in the world, according to what the World Health Organization announced last year. The world, “and explained that lung cancer has remained the most common over the past two decades, but it has now fallen a step back to second place, ahead of colorectal cancer, which is third on the list.”
Elbavi noted that obesity is a common risk factor for breast cancer, and is a driver of overall cancer numbers in the direction of increase, and added that as the world population grows and life expectancy increases, there is speculation that cancer will become more common, with numbers reaching about 30 million new cases. annually by 2040, up from 19.3 million in 2020.
This year, the organization confirmed that cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, and it claimed the lives of 10 million people in 2020, including 685,000 deaths from breast cancer.
Target scatter
No one from the Soraya family had previously had breast cancer, which added to her shock when she learned that he had attacked her. It settled in her breast and began to spread, and she says, “I was not working at the time, and I did not benefit from any guarantor, and this made my main concern to secure money for my treatment instead of That fighting the disease is a cure.” She added, “Today I have crossed a great stage on the path to victory, but I am at risk of losing the battle at every moment if I am not able to secure medicine.”
As for Rosette Haddad, she was shocked when she was 38 years old, with a fatty lump under her breast. She underwent two surgeries, and so far she is still fighting her battle against him, given the lack of “weapons” to confront him.
One out of every eight women develops breast cancer, according to what the Head of the Oncology and Hematology Department at Hotel Dieu Hospital, Professor Fadi Nasr, who explained to Al-Hurra website, that breast cancer is of two types, “the first affects 5% of women, and it is linked to the genes inherited from the family.” It affects women at an early age, between 30 and 50 years, and the second type affects 95 percent of women without any cause, and at a later age, when they reach 65 years of age.
He added, “The monitoring of a woman whose family member has previously developed breast cancer begins at the age of 20, while the rest of the women must undergo a periodic examination since they reach the age of 40, by taking an x-ray every year, provided that the image is compared. The new pictures were taken earlier, to detect the disease early and as a kind of secondary prevention, since there are no preventive measures for this disease such as not eating certain foods or stopping smoking.
Soraya needs a monthly injection, the price of which ranges between $100 and $300, according to the price of the pharmacist who sells it on the black market, and she also needs medicine that she brings from Turkey, while her salary does not reach $100. For 10 years, I do not know if I can secure it next month, so how can I think in the long term, at a time when I have never benefited from the Ministry of Health except with one injection.”
Until 2020, Rosette did not face any problems regarding her access to medicine, as the social security covered its price. She explains, “Through an association, I was getting the medicine, which cost 5 million pounds at the time, or about 3,700 dollars, from a pharmacy, provided that I pay him after the social security pays the amount, but two years ago the situation turned upside down. The medicine was lost from pharmacies, and if it was found, it would be sold in “Fresh” dollars, while the guarantee was paid in Lebanese pounds at the exchange rate of 1500 pounds.
Rosette’s continuation of her treatment journey depends on the Barbara Nassar Association securing her medication, and she says, “I do not have the money to buy it, I am a widow. I have a 17-year-old son.
In addition to the medicine, Rosette needs an injection every 28 days. She is also missing from Lebanon. Without her, she suffers from painful health symptoms such as high body temperatures, and she has to buy it from Turkey for 50 dollars, in addition to medicine available in Lebanon for 50 dollars, while in Turkey its price $14, and she says, “I can’t explain how I feel when I can’t secure my medications, and for a year and a half I haven’t gone to the hospital to get a mammogram because of my financial situation, and I haven’t gone to the doctor for six months, after his examination allowance reached $60.”
The path of pain
If the purpose of educating women about breast cancer is to discover the disease in its early stages, however, as Professor Nasr says, “a large number of women are unable to get a mammogram because of its cost, which ranges between 200 and 300 dollars. This does not negate the existence of centers that price it at a lower price.” But the quality of the image is also lower, so the financial reasons lead a large number of Lebanese women to postpone the procedure.”
Some women are satisfied with examining their breasts with their hand, but as the professor explains, “when they discover the presence of a mass, the size of the cancer has reached 1 cm, which means that it appeared three years ago at least,” and stressed that the delay in detecting the disease costs the patient hundreds of times more than if I discovered it early, both in terms of the cost of treatment and the chances of surviving it.”
He also touched on the problem of medicine faced by women in Lebanon, saying, “If a woman discovers her illness and decides to undergo treatment, she needs medication, which is either missing or expensive.”
As for Nassar, he says, “When a woman discovers her disease at an early stage, she has hope of recovery, but this hope is dashed when she knows that the cost of a chemotherapy session reaches 20 million pounds, while she may need three sessions per month, from here thousands of patients stopped their treatment Because they no longer have anything to sell to secure the money.”
He adds that “the development of medicine has contributed to the discovery of drugs that enable cancer patients (in its fourth stage), to survive for five years or more, but the available amount of these drugs is not sufficient for all patients, which inevitably leads to the development of the disease in their body and the relapse of their condition, and unfortunately, Many of them died because of it.”
It is not possible to treat a patient if his medicine is provided intermittently, as Professor Nasr says, “which is what prompted a large number to purchase their medicines from Turkey, Egypt and Iran, and most of them are not subject to any study and therefore we do not know the extent of their effectiveness, and the major problem they face is related to the cost of the exorbitant operations Even if the patient is insured, social security still pays at the exchange rate of 1500 pounds, while hospitals are charged in fresh dollars.
Souls pay the price
The Lebanese authority has lifted the subsidy on some cancer drugs, according to Nassar, “on the pretext that others are still subsidized, but the pharmaceutical companies have stopped importing unsubsidized ones, as a result of the financial problems they are facing with the Banque du Liban, so that patients find themselves prey to the high price of medicines available in Lebanon.” market”.
From time to time, cancer patients hear promises from the Minister of Public Health in the caretaker government, Firas Abyad, to secure their medicines, including during a meeting held on the seventh of this month, which was attended by the ambassadors of Britain, Switzerland, Denmark and Germany, a representative of the French embassy, a representative of the European Union, and a coordinator The Lebanese grouping at the American Chamber of Commerce, the director of the Department of Parts and Foreign Operations at the Banque du Liban, and members of the International Pharmaceutical Companies Association in Lebanon.
During the meeting, Abyad indicated that “the ministry insists on securing the best treatment for the Lebanese patient, and is working to preserve Lebanon’s position on the medical tourism map in the region.” He added, “We are currently working to provide treatments for cancerous and incurable diseases in a sustainable manner through the digital drug tracking system from the moment it is imported until it reaches the patient, which ensures that each patient gets his medicine and reduces waste and smuggling, in addition to following treatment protocols and scientific standards to dispense the necessary medication to the patient according to his condition.” .
But Nassar wondered, “Until the mechanization is completed, what does a cancer patient do and who provides him with his medicine?” He added, “We are waiting for the adoption of a law in the House of Representatives that requires the Ministry of Health to continue working with the mechanization that is being prepared, so that it is not canceled by any new minister, and thus the return From favoritism and lack of transparency in drug distribution.
A large number of patients died because they were unable to buy medicine or pay the hospital bill, as Professor Nasr stresses, “At a time when we still hear the Lebanese Minister of Health talking for two years about solutions without seeing any progress on the ground, because unfortunately, after it was Before 2018, Lebanon was known as Al Sharq Hospital, the hospitalization in it deteriorated dramatically, and here we are trying everything in our power to return to the minimum level to continue treating patients.”
It does not depend on the medicine, as a cancer patient in general, as Soraya stresses, needs psychological treatment from the difficult stages he is going through, “to accept his shape, which changes a lot as a result of treatment, for example, I increased my weight and changed my features and even the quality of my hair, but in our country we suffer psychologically and confuse Right and left, and we are trying to secure treatment and its costs, so how can we secure side treatments that are no less important than the basic treatment.”
The last time Rosette went to the doctor, he told her that she was on the road to recovery if she continued receiving treatment, but, as she says, “it is a road paved with mines. I don’t know if I will survive my trip on it.”