The Hospital Syndicate announced in a statement, that “Hospitals are facing a severe problem represented in the shortage of laboratory reagents, and even if they are available, they are sold in fresh dollars, forcing many hospitals to stop conducting external examinations except for patients who are inside the hospital.”
It continued: “Some of the missing reagents have a serious negative effect, to ensure the validity of blood given to patients and periodic examinations for dialysis patients, and for those suffering from heart diseases, etc… The importers are blaming Banque du Liban, which is not paying subsidy, forcing them to stop importing. This prompted some of them to ask hospitals for prepayment, so that they can import, a request that is impossible for hospitals to implement, because it requires them to pay large sums in fresh dollars, which is not available.”
The Syndicate appealed to the Minister of Health, Dr. Firas Abyad, to intervene in solving this matter, “which poses a real danger to the lives of patients, and to search with importers and the Banque du Liban for a quick way out, because this matter has been going on for several weeks, and its consequences can no longer be tolerated.”