One crisis after another received by the hospital and pharmaceutical sector is receiving, the latest of which was the cutout of anesthesia drugs and the inability to perform operations, and the crisis extended to laboratory reagents that are used to conduct some tests, and therefore hospitals cannot withstand for more than two weeks at the maximum, which prompted them to reduce the reception of patients and limit laboratory reagents.

The head of hospitals, Suleiman Haroun, told “Sawt Beirut International” correspondent Ghida Jbeili, “There are types of anesthesia used during surgeries. We were informed from the agent that the stock is almost out. And as the stock is not enough for more than two weeks, and the hospital stock does not exceed this period, we had to postpone non-emergency operations that do not pose a threat to the patient’s life.” He added, “There is a shortage with importers who sell us the reagents that we use in laboratory tests, which prompted some hospitals to stop conducting tests for patients from outside the hospital, which are vital tests, including laboratory tests for dialysis patients.”

The head of the Hospitals Syndicate, Suleiman Haroun, believes that the support process has proven to be a failure, and therefore money must be given to the guarantors, and the merchants import medicines and supplies at the exchange rate. He said, “The Bank of Lebanon throws the ball into the importers’ court, and vice versa. The dialogue has become deaf between the two parties”. He considered that this is due to the fact that the current support mechanism is wrong and has proven its failure, because first there are no medicines in the market, secondly there are no reagents for laboratories, and thirdly, if they are found, they are asked for prices other than the official ones. He added, “About what support are they talking? We also do not know what is subsidized or not, what is the market price and what is the exchange rate of 1585 pounds, which is a fatal chaos.”