Mrs. Salwa Al-Hayek (55 years old) did not expect to beg for her medicine to fight breast cancer before it spread to her bones. And that was after her supplication was that God would cover her poverty with wellness, and she had been struggling for many years to secure her daily sustenance, but she found herself alone in the face of illness and poverty.
This humble lady, who used to work in cleaning houses to live, was betrayed by cancer about 8 months ago to add to the burden of worries and fatigue of life, as Salma was unable to secure the simplest expenses for medical examinations, and she needed someone to stand by her side to pass this difficult stage that ended in tragedy big.
No one has ever heard of Salwa, one of the hundreds of cancer patients who are unable to secure money for treatment. Not many knew of her death, because she lives in the Qubbah area, which is ravaged by poverty, despite the presence of 8 deputies in the northern region. But Salwa, an ordinary citizen, died because poverty was stronger than cancer, so they spread to her body and killed her.
Ali Qarhani, who followed her story, spoke to Al-Nahar, confirming that “Salwa discovered that she had breast cancer about 8 months ago. She did not have the money for the costs of a biopsy and medical examinations. After assistance from philanthropists, she was able to undergo examinations and be admitted to the hospital. But her condition It got worse months later, and it turned out later that the cancer had moved from the breast to her hand, as it had spread to her bones and she needed urgent surgery.
From the funeral ceremonies of the deceased.
Salwa was unable to secure the required amount due to her precarious living situation, and the cost of the surgery was about $600 and 28 million Lebanese pounds.
After preparing a photo report with the aim of securing the required amount, and after Salwa was admitted to the hospital, the doctor told her that he could no longer perform the operation, because the bone was “excessed” due to the disease. Time was not on Salwa’s side, and the delay in securing the amount was the final blow to her.
Her son had to sell his car to pay for the hospital costs, after Salwa had to enter him for treatment, before she knew that she would be denied surgery because she was late in securing the required amount.
The difficulty of the case necessitated replacing the surgery with a drug treatment, so the doctor prescribed some special medications for her to alleviate the symptoms, but “we were unable to secure these medications because of their high cost ($1,100), and we only succeeded in securing half an envelope of her many medications, in addition to morphine to relieve her pain.” However, her condition worsened because she did not have the cost of her medications, in light of the continuous spread of malignant substances in her body,” Qurhani confirms.
The day before yesterday, Salwa breathed her last in the hospital, because poverty and disease were stronger than her. Her miserable economic condition deprived her of the right to treatment, and cancer did not give her time, so it quickly robbed her.
Salwa passed away, while there are hundreds of patients who may face the same fate if they are not helped to secure cancer medicines.
And while the Minister of Health is trying to trace the medicines in order to avoid their smuggling and ensure their right to reach the patient, the head of the Health Committee, Representative Bilal Abdullah, warned, in a statement yesterday, that “there are those who are considering lifting subsidies for cancer and difficult medicines,” stressing that “this talk is unacceptable.” And stressing that the “Minister of Health shares our opinion,” although he is convinced that “this talk has begun to take on a serious nature. There are 30,000 cancer patients suffering today from the allocated funds that are not sufficient for that.”
Abdullah hoped that “hospital institutions and doctors, especially since we are not in Bahbouha, should take this issue into consideration, and work not to deprive the Lebanese patient of hospitalization.”
And he stressed, “We will go out with the families of these patients to the street, so that the state will come and say that I can no longer cover the medicines for cancerous diseases,” stressing his warning but rather his refusal to “eliminate the cancer patient and incurable medicines by death,” calling for “the subsidy must be kept at 1,500 pounds until When the economic recovery plan is launched, and a solution is found, we must stop the leakage and smuggling, but to use the excuse to go to lift subsidies, this is unacceptable.
