SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 28 March 2024, Thursday |

Diesel outages deal a dreadful blow to hospitals

The Head of the Syndicate of Hospitals Sleiman Haroun said that ongoing outages in diesel fuel have dealt a dreadful blow for hospitals.

He said that the latest crisis is adding burdens on the healthcare sector which is already struggling due to the pharmaceutical crisis.

Haroun said that the Head of the Lebanese Pharmaceutical Importers Association has informed him that  that there are no new orders to import medicine as a result of the problems arising between the association and the Central Bank, and the same case is for the medical supplies.

Haroun revealed during a radio interview, that 20,000 liter of diesel has been secured to Alpha company for serums, a quantity sufficient for two days only.

Haroun clarified that the storage of diesel must be for a full month at least, and therefore talking about the storage of a quantity of diesel in some hospitals sufficient for several days is not enough, noting that the stock of some hospitals has been completely vanished.

In parallel, the head of the Academic Health Meeting “Health is a Right and Dignity” Dr. Ismail Sukkarieh warned in a statement of “the loss of drug security and its health repercussions,” fearing that the sector is on the verge of collapse, due to medicine outages critical for serious diseases such as cancer, immunity, heart, arteries, and others, but rather.”

Sukkarieh said: “What worsens the situation is the emergence of a black market for medicines with large differences in prices between one pharmacy and another, and the most dangerous is the emergence of websites for medicine sales.

Sukkarieh held the officials and those concerned with the pharmaceutical affairs responsible for any damage that could affect a patient.

    Source:
  • Sawt Beirut International