Former Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani, on Saturday, criticized directing the blame towards private hospitals in Lebanon in wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, stressing that the private hospital sector cannot be held responsible for the state's inadequacy and shortfall.
"It is important for us to mention that these hospitals and their medical and health staff constitute one of the strength factors of Lebanon and contribute greatly to raising its position at the level of global competitiveness standards," Hasbani said.
However, he pointed to the sufferings endured by these hospitals under the weight of the economic and financial crisis in the country. "The Lebanese health system is based largely on the private hospital sector, which has made Lebanon the 'Hospital of the East', but 80% of hospital cases are covered by government agencies, so as they were late in payments, the sector began to falter," he explained.
Hasbani continued to indicate that the pandemic conditions require a full mobilization of capabilities, but this mobilization must come within integrated plans that the Ministry of Health draws, while securing the necessary funding within the public sector in addition to the private sector, if the need arises.
He added: "Funding was available two years ago from the World Bank, and a large part of it was allocated in 2020 to Corona, which could have been used during the preparation period, instead of the confusion that occurred in the distribution of medical equipment and supplies in recent days."
"If violations occurred in some hospitals due to lack of supervision, this does not mean that all private institutions are at fault," he corroborated.
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