Head of the Department of Hematology and Cancer at the American University Hospital in Beirut, Professor Naji Al-Saghir, warned in a statement on Saturday against “the shortening of the lives of patients with cancer, heart, bacterial and chronic diseases, as a result of the interruption of medicines and squabbles in terms of supporting their import.”
He said: “We have seen mothers bringing their children to the emergency units of our hospitals due to high fever, only to be administered with a simple medicine such as Paracetamol that is not available in pharmacies; and we have seen patients roaming from one pharmacy to another, and from one city to another, and from one region to another, in search for their medicines to treat heart diseases, diabetes and cancer, but to no avail, or to rarely find them at some pharmacies that import medicines at high international prices which only a few can afford, or to rely on their relatives to send their medication from the Gulf states, America, Europe and other areas.”
Al-Saghir referred to the almost complete interruption of many cancer drugs that are given intravenously, intramuscularly, subcutaneously, or as pills, noting that “doctors spend long intervals on the phone and in clinics with their patients and families in order to replace drugs with available ones, which are sometimes less effective than the first drugs.
Pointing to Lebanon’s acquired prominent ranking and pioneering position with respect to curing cancer patients at very high rates and applying the best international standards, Al-Saghir regretted that “we are now losing everything we achieved during the past decades and years.”
He continued to point out that “some major hospitals and universities have expressed their willingness to import medicines for their patients directly, but they need the approval of the Minister of Health to import and sell them at the market price, as purchased.” He noted, however, that “the Health Minister emphasizes commitment to the official price of drugs.”
“In the midst of the rams between the resigned government, the Ministry of Health and the Central Bank, cancer patients are deprived of their medication and are paying the price with their lives and years,” Al-Saghir regretfully underlined.
He urged Lebanese politicians to make the right decision in a speedy manner before it is too late, saying: “We all want reform, stopping waste expenditure, smuggling and corruption, and gaining the trust of the people, the international community and financiers, but if it is necessary to continue subsidies for a short period, with clear future plans to lift them off goods while resorting to directly supporting the citizen, so be it!” he affirmed.
Al-Saghir concluded by calling on the Ministry of Health, the Parliamentary Health Committee, the Physicians Syndicate, the Lebanese Society of Malignant Tumors, the Lebanese Society of Hematologists, the two Lebanese Doctors’ Syndicates in Beirut and Tripoli, and all physicians, nurses, pharmacists, the Banque du Liban, drug agents and importers, and scientific pharmaceutical companies, to “come together and agree on urgent and quick solutions to save cancer patients who are our family, our children, our friends and our loved ones, and whose torment can never be accepted.”
Source: National News Agency