Libyan children’s hospital faces closure due to lack of funding

The main children’s hospital in the Libyan city of Tripoli faces closure due to the chronic lack of funding from the government, Libya Herald has reported. Al-Jalaa Children’s Hospital is so underfunded that it has only managed to maintain its emergency power generators thanks to public donations of fuel.

The hospital treats around 2,000 children a month, hospital worker Fatima Al-Bakoush told Panorama TV. The lack of funds to pay nurses has seen it forced to cut the number of nursing beds to just 60, with the new post-natal unit, laboratory and dialysis equipment in desperate need of funding.

Al-Jalaa is the largest state maternity hospital in western Libya and major funding is needed urgently. A crisis committee of healthcare officials and members of non-governmental organisations has been established to try to prevent its closure.

“Members of the committee will use their social media networks to seek financial support for the hospital,” explained Salem Shakika. This will be done in cooperation with the hospital administration, added the committee member from the Suq Al-Juma Council of Elders.

He pointed out that the hospital is currently running on public donations which allow it to operate on a minimum level. According to reports, three weeks ago an anonymous benefactor paid for fuel after the hospital’s power generator ran out. Coupled with Tripoli’s daily power cuts, the situation is dire.

If the hospital closes, it will hit low-income families particularly badly. Those who are able to afford private care have long avoided Al-Jalaa, where the level of care and cleanliness has been poor for a long time.