"Lebanese" association launched on Thursday the Citizen's Rights project in a ceremony sponsored by Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Public Health, Ghassan Hasbani, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the support of the US Embassy in Lebanon, at the Phoenicia Hotel.

The event took place in presence of US Charge d'Affaires, Edward White, a number of syndicate heads, owners of private hospitals, doctors, pharmacists, as well as representatives of liberal professions and insurance companies.

"What we are witnessing today is Lebanon's transition from the age of paper and bureaucracy to a digital one. We're moving to an era which is transparent, honest, and caters to the needs of citizens," Nadine Daher, president of the "Lebanese" association, said.

"We are well-aware of how easy administrative procedures are in Gulf countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, where administrations have completely shifted to electronic procedures. Also, European countries and the United States have facilitated paper work by offering their citizens the right to finish their transactions online," she added.

Daher also explained that this step fell within the framework of the health strategy launched by Hasbani" "Health 2025", which is based on the use of technology and the digital revolution in the framework of human health.

For his part, Minister Hasbani delivered a speech in which he declared that the most important goal of the project is to eradicate poverty, protect the environment, stimulate social integration, and secure economic opportunities for all.

"The digital government is focused on decentralizing government services through technology and reducing operational costs, which is a key objective of the 2018 budget. It aims at boosting effectiveness of government action and enhancing transparency through the dissemination of statistics," Hasbani explained.

The UN report on e-government in 2016 put Lebanon in the 73rd place out of 193 UN member states, advancing 16 positions in comparison to Lebanon's ranking 89 back in 2014.

"While the human factor is the most prominent criterion for such a classification, the percentage of electronic participation in Lebanon is still at an average level. This entails of the state and ministries to work together with the private sector and civil society to increase participation in the dissemination of awareness about the use of electronic services," the Minister added.

"As of tomorrow, many citizens will be able to access the Ministry of Public Health services from their homes or offices, and later from the offices of "Liban Post", Hasbani said.

"70 per cent of the Ministry of Health's services have become electronic and accessible through a Smartphone or the Ministry's web page. We will seek to raise awareness and train citizens to use these applications," the Minister of Health concluded.