Lebanon’s health system on life support as economic woes worsen

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Updated 17 August 2021
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Lebanon’s health system on life support as economic woes worsen

  • Explosion’s adverse impact continues to be felt by nation’s medical professionals and patients alike
  • Health system creaks under the weight of medical supply shortages, COVID-19 and brain drain

DUBAI: Last August, millions around the world watched in horror as footage of the devastating Beirut port blast looped on TV channels and social-media feeds for days. For residents of the Lebanese capital, that month was like no other in recent memory.

Within hours of the explosion on Aug. 4, people began to pour into the city’s hospitals with all kinds of trauma, disfiguring burns and wounds caused by flying glass and masonry. But then, Beirut’s public-health infrastructure itself was one of the biggest casualties.

According to a World Health Organization assessment, four hospitals were heavily affected and 20 primary care facilities, serving approximately 160,000 patients, were either damaged or destroyed.

A year on, as Lebanon reels from the combined impact of economic chaos, medicine shortages, power cuts and repeated COVID-19 waves, the nation’s health system is on life support.

Furthermore, medical professionals report that they are not receiving sufficient protection while on duty as their workplaces lack the medical gear and the protocols necessary for dealing with the highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19.

“The health situation in Lebanon is really dire,” Rabih Torbay, president and CEO of US-based humanitarian aid agency Project HOPE, told Arab News.




Lebanon reels from the combined impact of economic chaos, medicine shortages, power cuts and repeated COVID-19 waves. (AFP)

“It is a combination of the lack of electricity in hospitals, a lack of fuel for generators in hospitals and beyond, a lack of medicine for hospitals and clinics, the currency losing 90 percent of its value, doctors and nurses leaving and a rise in the number of COVID-19 infections.”

Lebanon took another jolt last week when the Central Bank announced that fuel subsidies had been halted. Already, according to CNN, many factories, including one that supplies the majority of Lebanon's intravenous lines to hospitals, have closed because of long power outages.

Nivine Bou Chakra, whose grandmother takes Nebilet for hypertension, said they have had to ration the stock of drugs they were able to buy last year. “You can’t find it now. And if you do, it’s expensive,” she told Arab News.

Bou Chakra’s father has run his own dental practice for more than 20 years. Many of his patients only visit if they have an emergency, “such as inflammation from an infected tooth,” she said.

“Since they can’t find antibiotics, they come to the dentist to take the tooth out. They do that because they can’t afford the alternative: Proper treatment.”

According to Ingrid Antonios, who is doing her residency at the anesthesiology and critical care department of the Hotel-Dieu de France hospital in Beirut, doctors and nurses are having to resort to cheaper, locally produced alternatives to imported drugs.

“A lot of products were, and still are, not available in the country for various reasons. From very basic stuff, such as painkillers and proton-pump inhibitors, to more specific medications for cancer, hypertension, diabetes and antibiotics,” she said.

Tony Noujaim, a master’s student, said it has become increasingly difficult to find diabetes and cholesterol medications for his father and aunt.

“We haven’t had the need to get them from across the border, at least not yet. But getting them involves a pharmacy treasure hunt in the north. Basically, we go from pharmacy to pharmacy until we eventually find what is a pretty basic and standard medicine,” Noujaim told Arab News.

And it is not just the people of Beirut who are struggling. About 19.5 percent of Lebanon’s population of 7 million are refugees from neighboring countries. Already living precariously in impoverished communities, few of them have the means or the connections to obtain vital medications at a time of scarcity.

It is hard to believe now that Lebanon’s health sector was in much better shape not so long ago, attracting patients from across the Middle East. But conditions began to deteriorate with the onset of the financial crisis in late 2019.

At the time, the New York-based Human Rights Watch warned that health professionals were struggling to meet the needs of their patients owing to the “government’s failure to reimburse private and public hospitals, including funds owed by the National Social Security Fund and military health funds, making it difficult to pay staff and purchase medical supplies.”

The steady depletion of foreign-currency reserves has made it difficult for Lebanese traders to import essential goods and “led banks to curtail credit lines” — a disaster for a nation that depends so heavily on imports.

“Lebanon imports 80 percent of its products — most of the country’s oil, medicine, meat, grain and other supplies come from abroad,” according to a report by Christian aid agency ACT Alliance.

“The pharmaceutical crisis has deepened in Lebanon as the central bank is unable to meet the cost of subsidized medicines.”




According to a World Health Organization assessment, four hospitals were heavily affected and 20 primary care facilities, serving approximately 160,000 patients, were either damaged or destroyed during the port explosion. (AFP)

The drastic devaluation of the currency has also made health insurance unaffordable for many Lebanese. “A challenge I faced at work was when a lady in her forties suffering from advanced cancer came to the emergency department in a critical condition following a severe infection,” Antonios, of the Hotel-Dieu de France hospital, told Arab News.

“She required admission to an intensive care unit, but she and her husband couldn’t afford to pay for admission. She had to be transferred to another hospital in a very unstable condition, which could have been life threatening.”

Amid Lebanon’s overlapping crises, electricity shortages have forced hospitals to rely on private generators to keep the lights on and their life-sustaining equipment functioning. But generators run on fuel, which is also now in short supply.

The American University of Beirut (AUB) Medical Center gave warning last week that its patients were in imminent danger owing to the fuel shortage.

“This means ventilators and other lifesaving medical devices will cease to operate. Forty adult patients and 15 children living on respirators will die immediately,” the AUB said in a statement.

Water has also become a finite commodity because of prolonged mismanagement, infrastructure decay and the unmet energy needs of pumping stations and treatment plants.




“The pharmaceutical crisis has deepened in Lebanon as the central bank is unable to meet the cost of subsidized medicines,” according to a report by Christian aid agency ACT Alliance. (AFP)

“A lot of the pumps are no longer in a position to supply water to homes, yet people can’t afford to buy bottled water,” said Torbay.

“It’s not just the lack of water. With lack of water comes infection outbreaks, diarrheal diseases and hygiene-related issues.”

Watching the health system beset by a lengthening list of problems, many medical professionals have made the difficult decision to leave the country. The trend started with the onset of the economic crisis and has only accelerated since the Beirut blast.

Amani Mereby, a Ph.D. candidate, said her physician now spends more time working in France, despite being in high demand in Lebanon.

“Because of the economic crisis, my physician, who was very successful in Lebanon, is having to divide his time between here and France,” she said. “The only reason he visits Lebanon once every two months is because he wants to help his patients.”




“A lot of products were, and still are, not available in the country for various reasons,” said Ingrid Antonios, who is doing her residency at the Hotel-Dieu de France hospital in Beirut. (AFP)

Among those who have been heading for the exits are colleagues of Antonios at the Hotel-Dieu de France hospital. “A large number of medical staff are leaving the country, from medical doctors to nurses, but also students,” he said. “It’s not just young people at the beginning of their careers. A lot of people in their thirties, forties and fifties are finding a way out where possible.”

For many, the reasons for departure are a mix of financial and emotional. “They can’t survive on the salaries they get paid,” said Torbay. “It’s also extremely difficult for a doctor or a nurse to take on a patient and not be able to heal them or give them the medicine they need.”

To many among the millions currently scraping by on their meager incomes, the remedy for Lebanon’s health system maladies lies either at the ballot box or the streets. They hold the same political elites blamed for the country’s deepening governance crisis, responsible for the unfolding health disaster.

“My friends call me delusional, but I have some hope,” Noujaim told Arab News. “After the Oct. 17, 2019, revolution, there was a huge political awakening in the country. My hope is confined to the next election.”


More Sudanese refugees fleeing as far as Europe, UN refugee agency says

Updated 6 sec ago
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More Sudanese refugees fleeing as far as Europe, UN refugee agency says

  • Olga Sarrado, UN refugee agency spokesperson, told a press briefing in Geneva that some 484 Sudanese had arrived in Europe in January and February, up 38 percent from the same period last year
GENEVA: Over a thousand Sudanese refugees have reached or attempted to reach Europe in early 2025, the United Nations’ refugee agency said on Friday, citing growing desperation in part due to reduced aid in the region.
Some 12 million people have been displaced by the two-year conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that has fueled what UN officials call the world’s most devastating aid crisis.
While some have recently returned home to Khartoum, millions of others in neighboring countries like Egypt and Chad face tough choices as services for refugees are being cut, including by the United States as part of an aid review.
Olga Sarrado, UN refugee agency spokesperson, told a press briefing in Geneva that some 484 Sudanese had arrived in Europe in January and February, up 38 percent from the same period last year.
Around 937 others were rescued or intercepted at sea and returned to Libya — more than double last year’s figures for the same period, she added.
“As humanitarian aid crumbles and if the war does not abate, many more will have little choice than to join them,” she said.
Migrant deaths hit a record last year, the UN migration agency said, with many perishing on the Mediterranean crossing which is one of the world’s most dangerous.

UN: 36 Israeli strikes in Gaza killed ‘only women and children’

Updated 56 min 58 sec ago
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UN: 36 Israeli strikes in Gaza killed ‘only women and children’

  • UN rights office spokesperson warns the military strikes across Gaza were ‘leaving nowhere safe’
  • Israel has said its troops are seizing ‘large areas’ in Gaza and incorporating them into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants

GENEVA: The United Nations on Friday said it analysis of 36 Israeli strikes in Gaza showed only women and children were killed and decried the human cost of the war.

The UN rights office also warned that expanding Israeli evacuation orders were resulting in the “forcible transfer” of people into ever-shrinking spaces in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani warned the military strikes across Gaza were “leaving nowhere safe.”

“Between 18 March and 9 April 2025, there were some 224 incidents of Israeli strikes on residential buildings and tents for internally displaced people,” she told reporters in Geneva.

“In some 36 strikes about which the UN Human Rights Office corroborated information, the fatalities recorded so far were only women and children,” she said.

“Overall, a large percentage of fatalities are children and women, according to information recorded by our Office,” she added.

Shamdasani cited an April 6 strike on a residential building of the Abu Issa family in Deir al Balah, which reportedly killed one girl, four women, and one four-year-old boy.

She highlighted that even the areas where Palestinians were being instructed to go in the expanding number of Israeli “evacuation orders” were also being subjected to attacks.

“Despite Israeli military orders instructing civilians to relocate to the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, strikes continued on tents in that area housing displaced people, with at least 23 such incidents recorded by the Office since 18 March,” she said.

Shamdasani referred to a March 31 order by the Israeli military covering all of Rafah, the southernmost governorate in Gaza, followed by a large-scale ground operation.

Israel has said its troops are seizing “large areas” in Gaza and incorporating them into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants.

“Large areas are being seized and added to Israel’s security zones, leaving Gaza smaller and more isolated,” Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday.

“Let us be clear, these so-called evacuation orders are actually displacement orders, leading to displacement of the population of Gaza into ever shrinking spaces,” Shamdasani said.

“The permanently displacing the civilian population within occupied territories amounts to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and it is a crime against humanity.”


WHO: Medicine critically low due to Gaza aid block

Updated 11 April 2025
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WHO: Medicine critically low due to Gaza aid block

  • Lack of medicine making it hard to keep hospitals even partially operational

GENEVA: Medicine stocks are critically low due to the aid block in Gaza, making it hard to keep hospitals even partially operational, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
“We are critically low in our three warehouses, on antibiotics, IV fluids and blood bags,” WHO official Rik Peeperkorn told reporters in Geneva via video link from Jerusalem.


Yemen ‘not a battleground for settling scores,’ says top government official

Updated 11 April 2025
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Yemen ‘not a battleground for settling scores,’ says top government official

  • Brig. Gen. Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh calls for stronger support for Yemeni forces on the ground to restore balance

DUBAI: Yemen is “not a battleground for settling scores, nor part of any external compromises,” a top government official told Asharq Al-Awsat in an exclusive interview.

Brig. Gen. Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, a member of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council with vice-presidential rank, further emphasized that diminishing the country to a pawn between powerful nations engaged in political play undermines its sovereignty and regional security.

“The world would be making a mistake by accepting Yemen as a bargaining chip in Iranian negotiations,” said Saleh, who also heads the Political Bureau of the National Resistance. He also emphasized Yemen’s strategic importance to global shipping routes.

Saleh has remained largely out of public view since the US intensified its air campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthis to stop the threat they pose to civilian shipping and military vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

He further warned that keeping Yemen “a base for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard” threatens not only Yemenis but also regional and international interests.

But achieving stability in the conflict-ridden country hinges on supporting a national state rooted in constitutional rule and genuine popular consensus, not on short-term geopolitical deals, Saleh added.

He called for stronger support for Yemeni forces on the ground to restore balance, not as a tool for escalation, but because it is a national imperative to protect civilians and preserve hard-won gains.

He said the Yemeni government was in ongoing coordination with international partners and the Saudi-led coalition backing legitimacy in Yemen to secure further assistance for the national struggle.

Cooperation with regional and international partners to bolster the country’s coast guard, particularly in the Red Sea, a strategic artery for global trade, also continues, the Yemeni official said.

Maritime security cannot be separated from national sovereignty, and defending sea lanes was integral to restoring state authority on land and at sea, Saleh said.

On achieving peace in Yemen, Saleh said: “There is no meaning to any settlement that does not subject the Houthis to the Yemeni constitution and the rule of law.” He discounted any notion that the militia group could be accommodated outside a constitutional framework.

“Peace cannot be granted to a group that rejects the state,” he said. “It is forged when the state regains the capacity to enforce the law and protect its citizens.”

For Saleh, forging a peace agreement with the Houthis — whom he describes as a bloodthirsty group with no commitment to national frameworks and an ideology rooted in an enemy state — was virtually nonexistent.

He accused the Houthis of placing their leadership and institutions tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps above Yemen’s state institutions.

“Governance is about managing people’s affairs based on shared frameworks,” Saleh said. “The Houthis do not abide by any of that.”

Saleh has put direct blame on Iran for perpetuating the conflict through its armed proxies, keeping Yemen hostage to violence and rebellion, although Tehran has continually denied its involvement.

Saleh also acknowledged the challenges facing the Presidential Leadership Council, and described the internal disagreements as “natural,” given the complexity of the crisis in Yemen.

“In the end,” he said, “what unites us is greater than any differences.

“Disagreements are natural in any leadership body, particularly in exceptional conditions like Yemen’s,” he said. “But more important is our ability to navigate this diversity and divergence while remaining committed to the national interest.”

 


From Dubai to Osaka to Riyadh: Expos mark decade of global dialogue, says UAE official

Updated 11 April 2025
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From Dubai to Osaka to Riyadh: Expos mark decade of global dialogue, says UAE official

  • UAE, Japan, and Saudi Arabia expos each bring distinct strengths and perspectives, says UAE official
  • Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai will run from April 13 to Oct. 13

DUBAI: The move of expos from Dubai to Osaka and soon to Riyadh presents a “unique opportunity to shape a decade of global engagement” in the Middle East and Asia, according to Shihab Al-Faheem, the UAE pavilion commissioner general.

The sequence of the three locations “offers continuity for themes such as innovation, sustainability, and cultural dialogue,” Al-Faheem said in an interview with Arab News Japan.

“It also strengthens connections between our countries. The UAE, Japan, and Saudi Arabia each bring distinct strengths and perspectives,” he added. “By working together through these global platforms, we can create long-term partnerships that deliver meaningful outcomes for people and the planet.”

Al-Faheem, who is also the UAE’s ambassador to Japan, said the Osaka-Kansai Expo this year carries special meaning for the Gulf country.

The UAE’s first expo journey began in Osaka more than five decades ago, and the commissioner-general explained that returning to Japan was “an opportunity to continue engaging with the world and to contribute to shaping a future grounded in cooperation and collective progress.”

As the baton was passed from Dubai Expo 2020 to Osaka, Al-Faheem said the most important insight the UAE valued was that of creating experiences that are immersive, inclusive and people focused.

“We also learned that strong logistical planning and a flexible, responsive approach are essential to hosting a successful expo,” he told Arab News Japan. “We believe these lessons will resonate with Japan as it welcomes the world in 2025.”

When it comes to the UAE’s participation in Osaka this year, the country’s pavilion will continue its “immersive and multi-sensory journey” giving visitors a chance to “engage on an emotional and intellectual level.”

The UAE Pavilion’s theme is “Earth to Ether,” which expresses the Gulf country’s journey from a heritage rooted in the land to a future defined by innovation.

With sustainability and technology in mind, Al-Faheem said the pavilion uses eco-conscious materials such as Datecrete and palm-based architectural elements to reflect environmental values.

“The content of the pavilion also showcases our leadership in clean energy, smart healthcare, and space technologies,” the ambassador said.

The architectural design draws inspiration from traditional Emirati structures and uses materials from the date palm. Inside the pavilion, visitors will be able to experience stories that reflect the UAE’s values and vision for the future.

Given that the UAE and Japan have both hosted World Expos, Al-Faheem said that this has allowed the two countries to strengthen “an already deep and multifaceted relationship. These global events provide a powerful platform to showcase shared values and to develop partnerships across sectors such as energy, education, culture, and technology.”

The UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 is expected to honor the relationship between the two countries and create new opportunities for joint initiatives.

Al-Faheem said he hopes that through the upcoming expo, the UAE will be able to deepen people-to-people ties with Japan and to create cultural and educational exchanges.

Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai will run from April 13 to Oct. 13, with an official opening ceremony on April 12.

This article also appears on Arab News Japan