Volume 4, Issue 3, 2023
Review Article
- Saving the Suffering Lebanese Healthcare Sector Immediate Relief while Planning Reforms
In October 2019, an already strained economy in Lebanon suffered a sapping shock leading to a palpable shortage of US dollars, limitations on foreign currency withdrawals and transfers, substantial devaluation of the Lebanese currency, and massive loss of purchasing power. The economic downfall had a crippling effect on all healthcare sectors including hospitals, healthcare providers, and the pharmaceutical and medical supplies industry. The outbreak of COVID-19 further aggravated the crisis. To address the health care crisis, Lebanon needs a dual tracked plan, with immediate measures to tackle the short-term urgency and a medium/long term effort to address the health sector’s structural issues. In this paper, we present some essential reforms needed in the short-term. The approach focuses on maintaining access to healthcare for all, enhancing primary and urgent care centers, controlling readmission, defined as subsequent admission of a patient within a month for the same health problem, and introducing telemedicine. Immediate measures will be needed to reduce the financials strain on hospitals and as well as the hospitalization costs. In parallel, efforts are needed to support healthcare providers and address the challenges of the pharmaceutical and medical supplies industry. These efforts can include direct and indirect monetary support, along with guiding principles to support the people behind these industries while maintaining the quality of the products and services they are providing.
- Solutions for the “Vanishing Drug” Conundrum in Lebanon: A Change in the Subsidy System Coupled with a Digital Prescribing Platform
The shortage of foreign currency in Lebanon due to the multiple crises that the country has been facing since October 2019 poses a threat to the importation and availability of pharmaceutical products among other essential commodities. This has been remedied by an importation subsidy system for pharmaceuticals financed by the central bank’s foreign reserves. However, patients have recently experienced shortages of many drugs on pharmacy shelves. In this paper, we describe the pharmaceutical supply chain in Lebanon along with the subsidy system put in place by the central bank. We then propose recommendations to improve this subsidy system and enhance prescribing practices in order to ensure the continuous presence of medications on pharmacy shelves, and that the foreign currency supplied by the central bank is spent to the benefit of the Lebanese patient.
- Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Physician Safety and Coverage in Lebanon
Similar to other countries, Lebanon experienced the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic imposed on its healthcare system. Physicians, among other healthcare workers, felt the large toll of the pandemic. The growing number of physicians infected with the coronavirus has uncovered gaps in the policies and laws meant to protect and ensure physician safety. These include gaps in physician coverage for healthcare, disability, and death, in addition to particular vulnerabilities of trainee physicians, along with the absence of specific laws, strategies, and agencies to ensure the safety of the healthcare work environment. This paper highlights these gaps and proposes solutions to address them.