Lebanon: with the economic crisis, health becomes a luxury
Audio 01:19
Mohammad Ajami in an anti-government demonstration, less than a month before his death.
© Noé Pignède / RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Strangled by the depreciation of the national currency against the dollar, the Lebanese population sinks into poverty and anger.
Many no longer even have access to basic services.
Health is becoming a luxury for many, in a country where most hospitals are privatized.
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From our correspondent in Beirut
,
Noé Pignède
Many
Lebanese
give up
seeking
treatment in
the
face of
the explosion in the price
of medicines and consultations.
And some die from it.
Last week, the death of one of the spearheads of
the anti-government revolt
, who died because he was not admitted to the emergency room in time, sparked outrage across the country.
Ibrahim Ajami is a grieving son.
A week ago, his father Mohammad, 66, was in a serious car accident.
Transferred to hospital while he was still conscious, the emergency room refused to take care of him.
"Hospitals here are a business"
“
He was with a friend who had an injured neck.
The hospital told them: you must pay before you are examined.
But they didn't have enough money on them.
They were asking them for a million Lebanese pounds, the equivalent of a month's salary.
No one has that amount on him!
My dad called them monsters, and told them it was illegal to do that.
But you know, hospitals here are business.
They don't treat people like patients, they treat people like customers.
They have no humanity,
”he told RFI.
Ibrahim then receives a call from his father to bring the money to the hospital.
But it is already too late.
Mohammad succumbs to internal bleeding.
“
They took 3 hours to take care of him.
Do you find that normal ?
This is how it is now in Lebanon.
After the operation, they came to tell me that my father was not coming back, that he had lost too much blood,
”he adds.
Ironically, Mohammad Ajami was himself a doctor.
In retirement, he devoted his time to providing free care to the poorest Lebanese.
Today, his son Ibrahim hopes for justice and has filed a complaint against the hospital.
In a statement, the establishment denies any negligence and claims to have done what is necessary to try to save his father.
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Lebanon
Economic crisis
Health and medicine
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