The head of the Doctors Syndicate, Sharaf Abu Sharaf, affirmed that “citizens, including medical and nursing staff, suffer greatly due to the absence of the necessary health insurance, in light of the deteriorating economic situation and the collapse of the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound, which force them to pay exorbitant differences to obtain the necessary treatment and hospitalization.”
Via a television interview, Abou Sharaf said that “hospital costs, have become too high for the citizen to bear,” adding that “the Minister of Health is working hard to find solutions to this issue, and to cover the ministry’s patients, thanks to his efforts. However, patients of official and private guarantor institutions are paying the price in the meantime with their health, or resort to debt and “begging” for money to secure the cost, and this is unacceptable and inhumane. Therefore, it is necessary to act quickly and together to preserve the health and dignity of people.”
He concluded: “The solution may be through requesting aid from abroad to cover the costs of health and hospital treatments. There are countries and international organizations that have expressed their desire to help, provided that a transparent reform plan is developed by the government.”