Lebanon's healthcare on brink of collapse amid crisis, says minister

20/1/2022 19:52

        Lebanon's healthcare system is crumbling amid an economic crisis that has led to an exodus of thousands of doctors and nurses, forced private hospitals to close some departments and put further strains on the already stretched state sector.
        
        "If this crisis goes on for long without solutions we will of course come closer to a great collapse," Health Minister Firass Abiad told Reuters this week.
        
        Lebanon's economy has been in freefall since 2019 and its currency has lost more than 90% of its value, driving much of the nation into poverty and pushing healthcare professionals and others to head abroad for work.
        
        Private hospitals in Lebanon, once a regional hub for medical treatment, accounted for 80% of hospitals and health services before the crisis, but now fewer people could afford them and they were turning to the state, said Joseph Helou, the ministry's director of medical care.