Lebanese Prime Minister Nagib Mikati giving a speech at the Grand Serail on the occasion of World Cancer Day, Feb.4, 2022. (Photo taken from the Twitter account of the Prime Minister's office @grandserail)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati Friday, on World Cancer Day, raised the alarm about the "humanitarian challenge" posed by cancer in Lebanon as the country suffers from a socio-economic collapse and as access to healthcare and medicines has become increasingly difficult.
Here’s what we know:
• During a ceremony on World Cancer Day, Mikati said,“From my position of responsibility, I tell you that the state no longer has the capacity to face this huge humanitarian challenge alone, because of the delicate financial situation,” he said. "We therefore appeal to all officials, the private sector, the local community, the institutions and international donors: Help us face the current precarious conditions, because the sick cannot wait for the state budget and until a recovery plan is adopted.”
• For his part, Health Minister Firass Abiad reiterated his comments earlier this week claiming that the authorizations had been granted to Banque du Liban to import cancer drugs and that these would be available "within the next two weeks." He also claimed that the current cabinet’s budget spending plan for his ministry is five times higher than the previous year’s, which should make it possible to "support patients.”
• Cancer drugs are still officially subsidized, which allows importers to obtain dollars to buy them from BDL at a lower rate than the parallel market. However, as the central bank's reserves are rapidly running short, the procedures to import these products are regularly delayed because of BDL’s delays in payments and therefore the drugs are currently difficult to find on the local market.