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Lebanon Order of Physicians warns of health sector collapse

June 16, 2022 at 12:46 pm

Medical staff are pictured outside AUBMC (American University of Beirut Medical Centre) in the Lebanese capital Beirut on March 17, 2021. [ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images]

The Lebanese Order of Physicians (LOP) has warned that the country’s health sector is on the verge of collapse due to the emigration of the veteran generation of doctors.

“It has become our urgent duty to warn against the collapse of the health sector, which is ultimately the backbone of life,” LOP chief Youssef Bakhash asserted in a press conference after the LOP delegation’s meeting with President Michel Aoun.

“The health sector suffers from challenges that we may not be able to get out of unless efforts are combined, and we move quickly to save what can be saved, as the sector is on the verge of collapse in light of the emigration of the veteran generation of doctors in search of a decent life and lost dignity,” Bakhash expressed.

He stressed that the sector faces fateful and existential challenges: “Unfortunately, the number of doctors who left Lebanon has reached 3,000, while the number of nurses who have left has reached about 5,000.”

Bakhash pointed out that one of the reasons behind the emigration of medical professionals is the Lebanese authorities’ inability to assume their responsibilities and financial entitlements.

Meanwhile, he said that medical supplies are sold according to the US dollar exchange rate in the parallel market. With the lifting of subsidies from most medicines, it has become impossible for Lebanese citizens to obtain treatment. As a result, this affects their ability to improve their health as many people do not go to hospitals, Bakhash described.

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