Lebanon lacked nothing but contamination of children’s cancer medicines. This news, which was confirmed by the World Health Organization, highlights the complete absence of oversight and the great disregard even for the health of sick children.
The World Health Organization has issued an alert regarding the presence of a contaminated batch of METHOTREX 50mg in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.
The organization said in a statement that the contaminated batch was found in Yemen and Lebanon following adverse effects appeared on sick children receiving the medicine, indicating that the health authorities in the two countries conducted microbiological tests on the remaining sealed vials and the results of the tests revealed the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, which is Evidence of product contamination.
The head of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Dr. Bilal Abdullah, confirms that the matter is being scrutinized, and the Ministry of Health has initiated the necessary examinations.
He points out that, under the pretext of a shortage of medicine, drugs are being smuggled, especially since a patient who is forced to take a medicine cannot be prevented from buying a medicine that we do not know if it is contaminated or not. He points out that the funds allocated for cancer drugs are not sufficient.
However, he stresses the need for more control over this drug in the hospitals to which patients carry the smuggled medicine, explaining that the medicine that comes through the agent is the guaranteed medicine.
And he talks regarding the reasons for the unavailability of medicine, due to the accumulated debts in the millions to the supplier companies, which the state is unable to pay, in addition to the problems of always opening credits from the Banque du Liban.