Rising Cancer Cases in Lebanon Linked to Air Pollution from Electricity Generators: Study Reveals Alarming Statistics

These numbers may seem terrible, but they have a precedent from previous years, because in 2018 Lebanon registered about 17,000 new cases of cancer and about 9,000 deaths, which made it the first place among countries West Asian in the number of diseases compared to the population, and third place in the classification of deaths compared to the number of cases For the population.

However, these numbers are still very dangerous, and have a terrible impact on many residents, male and female, who cannot access medicine, due to a decline in their income and as resulting in the widespread estimates of a doubling of the cancer population. issues and an increase in the risk of contracting it as a direct result of the increase in air pollution due to the release of electricity generators after the electricity crisis, as well as a deterioration in public safety and sanitary conditions with hardships in consumption public on the environment, waste treatment, health, and everything related to social issues and human development for the residents of Lebanon.

Air pollution is one of the most prominent factors contributing to the increase in cancer cases in Lebanon, especially lung cancer, which accounts for 12% of all cases (and the second -only for breast cancer), and is the first cause of death from this. infection at a rate of 19.3%.

Representative Najat Saliba, executive director of the Academy of the Environment at the American University and supervisor of a study prepared by the American University of Beirut, says that air pollution in Beirut due to the release of private electricity generators has doubled from 23% to between 46% and 50% between 2017 and 2023.

The study is based on its methodology on a comparative study between the years 2013 and 2023 of air quality in the city of Beirut in three main areas: the center of Beirut, near the American University, and the destinations in Tariq al-Jadidah.

Since the beginning of the economic crisis in Lebanon in 2019, and the reduction in production from the Electricité du Liban to a few hours a day, reliance on private generators that work on diesel has increased as a major and not is the only source of electricity. According to Lebanese customs figures, between 2019 and 2023, Lebanon imported electric generators worth 83 million US dollars, and the import value of generators increased from 8 million dollars in 2020 to 21 million in 2023.

It should be noted that the import of generators whose capacity does not exceed 75 KVA increased significantly, from 6,772 generators to 14,548 generators between 2019 and 2023, noting that the highest was recorded in the year 2022, which saw the liberalization of energy prices and higher rationing. , and Lebanon imported at that time about 18,411 generators of this size.

The total number of small generators imported reached about 59,906 generators between 2019 and 2023, which is evidence that consumers depended on small generators to meet their needs outside of Lebanon’s electricity rationing and neighborhood generators.

There is a worrying trend regarding the increase in cancer cases, not only in Lebanon but also in the world. According to the estimates of the World Health Organization, about 20 million new cancer cases and about 9.7 million deaths were registered in the year 2022, and it is expected that more than 35 million new cancer cases will be registered in the year 2050 , a 77% increase. over the year 2022. Cancer incidence rates reflect how people are exposed to There are risk factors, many of which are linked to social and economic development, and according to the World Health Organization, air pollution represents a major influential environmental risk factor.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health has stopped updating and publishing its data on cancer rates in Lebanon since 2016. However, sources from the Ministry indicated that around 19 million dollars have been allocated in 2022 to import medicines for cancer patients, which is an average of 560 dollars per patient (if we assume that the number is the same as those studied by the World Health Organization), while the study of the financial burden of cancer treatment in Lebanon issued in 2016 shows that the average cost of treating one case of lung cancer per year is around $5,260, which is more than 9 times what the Ministry of Health provides the -currently It is more than twice the minimum annual wage in Lebanon.

For your information, the total cost of cancer treatment at the time was $6,690 per case per year. Here, this huge difference between the cost of proper treatment and what the Ministry of Health provides and what the per capita income allows to provide shows the horror of what cancer patients suffer in Lebanon.

However, the economic burdens due to the increasing number of cancer patients go beyond the issue of medical bills and even hospital bills, although they are still the most most important and fundamental. In practice, cancer takes on a wider economic dimension that includes increased poverty, loss of income sources, and declining productivity. The dangerous reality of cancer in Lebanon is reflected in the increase in cases of infection among young people and adolescents, who are an important part of the workforce in the economy, according to the testimonies of many cancer doctors.