Beirut: in hospitals, fear of a shortage of equipment and drugs

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The dialysis unit of the Lebanese Geitaoui hospital in Beirut, after the explosion in the port of Beirut on August 11, 2020. REUTERS / Hannah McKay

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4 min

According to the WHO, nearly half of Beirut's 55 hospitals are out of service following the explosion. Several dozen tonnes of French humanitarian aid are to arrive on board the Tonnerre helicopter carrier. While waiting for international aid, Beirut's health system is going through difficult times and doctors are worried about shortages of medical equipment and drugs.

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With our special envoys in Beirut,  Pierre Olivier and Julien Boileau

The small Haroun hospital, relatively untouched by the explosion, received several hundred wounded, such as Mohamad, a 47-year-old Syrian.

“  I received a blow to the head,” he explains. I had several bruises. The most important was in the lungs. We treated them first, then we operated on my head. "

► To read also: Beirut: "It was like a hospital in a state of demolition which continued to work"

It is estimated that more than 6,000 injured had to be taken care of by hospitals. But it is now the fear of a shortage of drugs that worries Islemane Haroun, the president of the Lebanese hospital union.

"  We have operating difficulties because of the lack of medical devices more than material damage due to the explosion,  " he says.

If the system can hold out for a few more weeks, the longer-term future is questionable.

“  The problem with the health system in Lebanon, and rightly the hospitals, is the supply in a few months. That's it. So we will overcome this problem within a good week and we still have to plan how to get supplies afterwards for the next three, four, six months  , ”explains Antoine Zoghby, president of the Lebanese Red Cross.

Several tons of medical equipment have been transported to Lebanon by international aid, the army should distribute them within a week.

► See also: Lebanon: the international community agrees on aid of more than 250 million euros

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  • Lebanon
  • Health and medicine
  • Social issues

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