The Israeli army and Hezbollah have been exchanging blows since the current war in Gaza began, but tensions escalated after an Israeli attack on a suburb of Beirut led to the killing of a senior Hezbollah leader this month. which went Hezbollah vowed to respond.
The government, amid diplomatic moves to slow the rise, is trying to prepare for the worst due to a weak budget, a deeply divided parliament, and the vacant post of head of state.
“The Lebanese health system had to adapt to multiple crises,” Al-Abyad said in an interview with the Associated Press, noting that health care facilities reduced costs by keeping stocks at a minimum. lower, leaving very few reserves for emergencies.
The Ministry was able to stockpile enough for four months of vital supplies.
The Minister of Health said, “We hope that all the efforts we are making to prepare for this crisis will not be in vain, and that we will avoid a wider war.” ”
He continued, “The best thing we want is for it to be clear that all this is unnecessary.”
In Gaza, the health system was completely destroyed. Al-Abyad said Lebanese health authorities are taking the possibility of hospitals being targeted in a wider conflict “seriously.”
It was also reported that nearly twenty paramedics and health care workers in southern Lebanon were killed in Israeli strikes. They include medics from Hezbollah medical groups and allied groups who have filled gaps in areas with limited government services.
Israeli raids were aimed deep into Lebanon in recent weeks, and the seals of military planes shook Beirut, and a large part of the border area turned into rubble.
Lebanon’s health sector was previously known as one of the best health sectors in the region, but Lebanon has been suffering from crises since 2019, including a financial crisis that followed decades of corruption and mismanagement. -management. Other challenges include the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Beirut port explosion that severely damaged or destroyed key healthcare infrastructure, and declining international aid to support Lebanon and help host more than a million Syrian refugees. Lebanon’s hospitals were on the brink of collapse in 2021, barely able to keep the lights on, as they suffered from drug shortages.
Minister Firas Al-Abyad said that the health department had shown flexibility in the past, expressing his hope that they would do so again. He said: “During the (port) explosion, the system was able to absorb more than 6,000 victims within 12 hours…e.”
But flexibility alone may not be enough for the troubled country and its population of six million. The financial crisis has left government agencies looking for financial support and supplies from humanitarian agencies. Last week, the Ministry of Health received 32 tons of emergency medical aid from the World Health Organization.
But the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations had to redistribute money allocated to other parties, to support around 100,000 people who fled to southern Lebanon since the current war in Gaza began.
Al-Abyad said some issues were out of the ministry’s control, including providing fuel for electricity and ambulances, as well as supporting nearly 800,000 a Syrian refugee in the country registered by the United Nations.
He said that health care resources that are allocated specifically to refugees are not enough, and that “the international community must do its best and intervene in this particular case.”
2024-08-13 10:54:26
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