Lebanon’s worsening health sector leaves patients suffering
Lebanon's health-care sector is fighting for survival amid an economic collapse, with the lives of patients at risk as critical care facilities have been falling apart and for the majority of the population affording essential medicine has become a luxury.
BEIRUT — Throughout Beirut and other regions, adults and children struggle for survival in a country crippled by poverty and debts, who share one thing in common — their fight against illness and a struggle to stay alive.
“It’s mentally, morally and physically exhausting,” is how breast cancer patient Rima Khodr described her days to Al-Monitor. “Cancer can be treated, but the economic collapse in Lebanon is turning it into a death sentence.”
Most Lebanese diagnosed with cancer cannot afford to start treatment or get their hands on medicine that are imported and sold at high prices.
Khodr said that she skipped her last two chemotherapy sessions, as she was unable to cover the costs. Her health insurance, which is fully covered by the Ministry of Health as her husband is a lieutenant in the army, has been denying her requests for a discounted treatment rate.
