The deputy also denounces the non-compliance by importers of medicines with the price list published by the Ministry of Health.
At the end of the meeting of the parliamentary health committee on Tuesday, January 4, its chairman, deputy Assem Araji indicated that the occupancy rate of COVID beds has increased sharply this week.
Thus, out of 916 beds, 700 beds are now occupied, ie 40 more beds compared to last week. The parliamentarian therefore calls on the population to be cautious in the face of the epidemic while 1,500 nurses have left the country of cedars. 85% of people currently hospitalized would not be vaccinated. As for the vaccinated and hospitalized people, they would mainly be individuals with chronic diseases or suffering from immunodeficiency.
This information comes as the Minister of Health Firas Abiad qualified the current situation on the health front under control after a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati. For the time being, according to the latter, the number of people currently in intensive care has not significantly increased.
However, the authorities are preparing for an imminent increase in the number of cases, in particular with the establishment of a field hospital at BIEL while the Lebanese authorities are also calling on contact cases to be confined for a few days.
The attitude of drug importers denounced again
In addition, Assem Araji also denounced the attitude of importers of drugs who no longer respect the price list of the Ministry of Health.
If today it is a question of putting an end to the monopolies of the importation of certain drugs while most of the subsidies enjoyed by patients until recently have been lifted by the Banque du Liban, the deputy said its concern about the sharp increases in current prices, induced by the collapse of the Lebanese pound against the dollar. This increase concerns in particular drugs intended for patients suffering from chronic diseases.
Drug importers, for their part, accuse the Ministry of Health of not taking into account the evolution of the dollar exchange rate on the black market and consequently demand a weekly revision of prices, consequently inducing a shortage of certain products. currently produced.
In addition, the deputy specifies that the process of approval of the lines of credit necessary for the purchase of drugs by the Bank of Lebanon remains complex and long and does not meet the current demand. As regards chronic diseases, if the demand reaches 500 packages, the Banque du Liban would only agree to finance 200 of them.
Among the projects to resolve the current crisis, if the government does not meet, an interministerial committee made up of the ministers of finance, public health and labor could be set up.
