Caretaker Minister of Public Health, Dr. Hamad Hassan, on Friday affirmed that the medicine shortage crisis in Lebanese markets was on its way to a solution. “We will not allow this issue to tamper with our joy conquering the Coronavirus pandemic,” Hassan added, promising an end to the medicine crisis by the end of this week.
Minister Hassan’s words came during his inauguration of a celebration held by “Hezbollah” in Nabatieh in honor of “those who sacrificed in the battle against Covid-19.”
“During my meeting with a World Bank delegation, which included directors from the Middle East and North Africa, as well as some senior officials, they felicitated Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health for having done well confronting the Coronavirus pandemic and building herd immunity against it,” Hassan said.
He added that Lebanon was “the first country with which the World Bank cooperated and signed a plan in support of immunization, because since the beginning of the crisis, we have raised with the WB this issue and expressed the government hospitals’ readiness in light of the reluctance of others. At this stage, we are on the path towards fully controlling the pandemic.”
As for the medicine shortage crisis, Hassan said that the Ministry of Public Health was one of the administrative circles to facilitate the delivery of medicine from manufacturers, through importers, to Lebanese citizens.
“It is not permissible to say that the Ministry of Health has nothing to do with us when medicine importers are making huge profits, yet to blame it when they are incurring losses!” Hassan exclaimed, asking of medicine importers and manufacturers to reassess their calculations.
Addressing the Central Bank, Hassan affirmed that the Ministry of Public Health was adamant to take all necessary steps to determine priorities despite the stifling financial crisis. “Our commitment is to continuing support to the Lebanese society,” he concluded.
Source: National News Agency