A few days ago, the young Ahmed T. From a village in Akariya, he needs a surgery that costs 4,000 dollars. Ahmed’s operation called for widespread mobilization on social media and WhatsApp groups for more than a week until activists interested in his cause were able to secure the necessary donations.
The operations of securing the costs of treatment and hospitalization in Akkar are managed through communication groups. There, donations are collected for operations, regardless of their cost, even if they amount to a hundred dollars. And if Ahmed had found someone to embrace his cause, then many do not find someone to care about their issues.
The costs of hospitalization and treatment have become a concern for everyone, with their conversion to US dollars, whether in private or government hospitals, and the inability of many to secure them, in light of a significant decline in the contributions of the guarantors from the State Employees’ Cooperative or the National Social Security Fund, and the citizen’s self-reliance and capabilities to secure his and his family’s medical treatment. . As for health insurance, it is out of reach because its annual subscription exceeds $3,000 per family.
Demand for care centers
The high hospital costs explain the decline in the number of patients in some hospitals in Akkar. On the other hand, primary health care centers are experiencing tremendous pressure because they seem to be the only refuge for citizens fleeing from ironing hospital funds that require prepayment before the patient is admitted to the hospital, regardless of his health condition. Some of these centers have night emergencies, albeit at a minimal level, and some do not open until the afternoon hours.
These centers, which number 35 in Akkar – according to the official website of the Ministry of Health – depend on the support of donors, and they charge meager sums in Lebanese pounds and provide the medicines in their pharmacies to their patients for free. This demand for care centers does not mean that they do not need to develop their services.
The medical director of Al-Iman Health Center, Dr. Kifah Al-Kassar, told Lamodon that “primary care centers are the last resort for patients in Akkar, after the crisis equalized all groups, and only a few could enter hospitals.” He adds, “There is no doubt that the service in these centers is of a high degree of quality, and it plays a major role with its capabilities at a time when some hospitals insist on not adhering to the standards and controls set by the Ministry of Health in pricing hospital costs without adhering to the human aspect of this profession.” .
Al-Kassar considers that “it is unreasonable to believe that one night in caring for a child in a government hospital costs two hundred dollars. If we assume that this child will stay for three nights, his father needs a three-month salary to treat him. Minister Firas Al-Abyad plays an important role in preserving the health sector in conditions It is very difficult, but the greed of some hospitals necessitates a moral human revolution, led primarily by the Minister of Health, to return some hospitals to the principle of the profession they practice, which is humanity.
Al-Kassar believes that supporting care centers has become a priority, “whether by providing logistical support and training cadres, or by securing various supplies of additional medicines needed by pharmacies that do not exist, or by providing them with solar energy, etc., and the need for these centers to include psychological treatments and attention.” the elderly and people with special needs.”
Treatment between Lebanon and Syria
As a result of the high cost, many people from Akkar go to Syria to undergo surgeries, check-ups, pictures, and also to buy medicines, as their costs are much lower than they are in Lebanon. Mahmoud al-Sayyid, a citizen of Akkar, told Al-Modon that he performed “arterial surgery in Syria at a cost of $2,000, while the doctor in Lebanon wanted $6,000 to perform it, and the operation was 100 percent successful.”
While the Lebanese flee to Syria for treatment, some Lebanese complain that the displaced Syrian receives medical treatment in Lebanon, relying on the United Nations. However, the facts of the matter indicate that the latter still covers operations for the displaced Syrians, such as deliveries and surgeries, and the patient pays between 10 and 20% of the bill value. While it does not cover other less severe cases such as the eye, nose, ear, throat, and others. Although other associations and organizations support hospitalization for displaced Syrians, their services have also declined since the first years of displacement, which makes the Syrian refugee suffer as well on the health level as the Lebanese citizen suffers.
2023-08-19 13:21:37
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