The new Health Minister, Rakan Nassereddine (left), shakes hands with the caretaker Minister, Firas Abiad, on Feb. 13, 2025, at the Health Ministry in Bir Hassan. (Credit: Health Ministry)
A handover ceremony between the caretaker health minister, Firas Abiad, and the new minister, Rakan Nassereddine, took place Thursday at the Health Ministry in Bir Hassan. Nassereddine promised to tackle hospital and medication issues, considering that "healthcare is an essential service to be offered to all Lebanese."
"We need to start with public and private hospitals and healthcare centers," stated the new minister. He also promised to address the issue of medications for chronic illnesses, cancer and vaccines. Nassereddine also plans to address food security, digitization within his Ministry, and the "restoration of the public health sector, particularly after the Israeli attacks," during the war between Hezbollah and the Israeli state, which damaged or rendered many hospitals inoperable, especially in southern Lebanon. The minister further emphasized the need to establish "a strategic vision" to develop the sector.
Meanwhile, Abiad listed the work accomplished during his time at the Ministry, while recalling that the sector "was on the brink of collapse due to the economic crisis that affected the health budget ... which led to medication shortages." Abiad also noted that 30 percent of health professionals left Lebanon at the beginning of the economic crisis in 2019, "which put hospitals in a difficult position." He also mentioned the "emergency plan" implemented during the Israeli war and the digitization initiated within the Ministry.