2023-09-09 05:40:52
“It is forbidden to get sick in Lebanon”… a phrase that the Lebanese have always repeated during the various stages that Lebanon has gone through, due to the absence of a comprehensive public health insurance system that provides the citizen with the medicines and treatments he needs and also guarantees him the possibility of entering the hospital without any obstacle or attempt to beg. Among influential politicians, economists and others.
With the beginning of the current crisis, which exposed various sectors and revealed the overwhelming chaos in most of them for what it is, the medical sector in Lebanon appeared as one of the most affected sectors, as the Lebanese citizen became hostage to the medical dollar, private hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies and other parties directly concerned with the citizen’s health and providing treatment. When he is exposed to any health condition.
Among the many collapses witnessed by the medical sector during the ongoing crisis, one can never ignore those suffering from incurable diseases, especially cancer patients, as images of their demonstrations and raising their voices to demand the provision of their treatments have turned into an icon representing Lebanese pain in its various dimensions and forms.
In this context, the Minister of Public Health in the caretaker government, Firas Al-Abyad, announced yesterday that the Council of Ministers had taken a decision to continue supporting medicines for incurable diseases.
He said that an amount of thirty million dollars had been approved in addition to one thousand five hundred billion liras for this purpose. Commenting on what the #government approved regarding drug support, Al-Abyad confirmed in an interview with “An-Nahar” that “the amount that was approved goes back to providing subsidized medicines and medicines for incurable diseases for all Lebanese (patients of the Ministry of Health, Social Security, State Employees Cooperative, Internal Security Forces and the Army).
Regarding the mechanism for benefiting from the subsidized medicines that this amount will include, “We will continue to adopt the mechanism previously established by the Ministry of Health, which stipulates that the patient obtains a unified health number, in addition to adhering to a safety platform, as through these steps we have been able to Or another way to control various smuggling operations.”
Al-Abyad pointed out that “the amount approved by the government to provide support for incurable medicines may be sufficient for a period of 3 months. Here it is necessary to point out a set of steps that have been taken that help prolong the period of time to benefit from medicine support funds.” The steps include “lifting support for some medications, and thus the amount of support has become less, in addition to the issue of medication rationalization, which most doctors in Lebanon adopt, meaning they only prescribe the basic and mandatory medication.”
Hence, “it can be said that the possibility of supporting medicines for incurable diseases through the funds approved yesterday may continue for a longer period.”
Al-Abyad believes that “the problems that have arisen in the issue of importing all types of medicines in Lebanon are directly related to the trust factor, as companies that have large sums of money with the importing parties in Lebanon are sometimes reluctant to continue supplying us with medicine, so what the government approved yesterday can be considered a factor.” “One of the factors is trust that drives foreign companies to provide us with medicine without any delay or hesitation.”
Regarding the period following the next 3 months, the Minister of Health says: “Unfortunately, during this difficult stage, we in Lebanon cannot set long-term goals, or adopt long-term solutions. Therefore, after the end of the current support funds, we will search again for a possible mechanism.” To obtain the necessary funds, knowing that we hope that the country will witness political solutions in the coming months, which will push towards finding ways out of the various outstanding issues.”
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