2023-10-05 10:43:16
The Minister of Public Health in the caretaker government, Dr. Firas Al-Abyad, indicated that “the Ministry will soon launch a cooperation project with the World Bank, which includes full coverage of two hundred thousand citizens from the most vulnerable groups through primary health care centers spread across various regions.”
During the opening of the national conference entitled “Bridging the Gap: Strengthening the Response to Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases in the Host Community and Refugee Communities in Lebanon,” which was organized by the Ministry of Public Health in cooperation with the American University, with funding from the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF), over the course of For two days at the Movenpick Hotel, Abyad pointed out that “the rates of infection with chronic non-communicable diseases constitute a concern in Lebanon, and that not treating these diseases at the beginning of their infection negatively affects the quality of life of our citizens and leads to a significant increase in the burden of the health bill. Therefore, I allocated The Ministry of Public Health allocated a large space to primary care in the National Health Strategy that was launched at the beginning of this year because of its pivotal role in preventing chronic diseases and anticipating their dangerous complications.”
He stressed that “the need for health services is increasing in Lebanon under the weight of the financial crisis.” He said: “The number of people visiting primary care centers has tripled in the past three years, which constitutes a clear indication of the decline in the ability to obtain private health services. Although this indicates the difficult health situation that Lebanon is witnessing, we see in this situation an opportunity.” To pay attention to primary health care. In this context, I am pleased to announce a cooperation project with the World Bank that will be launched soon by the Ministry of Public Health, which includes full coverage of two hundred thousand people among our citizens from the most vulnerable groups.”
Minister Al-Abyad addressed the reality of refugees in Lebanon, stopping at “Lebanon has adopted an integrated approach to meeting their health needs, even at the peak of its health system exceeding the capacity to absorb an influx of displaced people equivalent to a third of the population of citizens.” He revealed that “the health indicators for refugees, such as maternal mortality rates or the percentages of those vaccinated, are equivalent to the indicators for the Lebanese,” expressing his regret that the enormous effort made by Lebanon was met with a worrying decline in the financial contributions provided by the international community.
The Minister of Public Health explained: “The international community faces a great responsibility because reducing financial contributions does not undermine the humanitarian goals that we must all come together to achieve, but rather places a burden that our host country cannot bear. The refugees must return. And in the decisive stage, the The international community must play its role and implement the required humanitarian message.”
Minister Al-Abyad pointed out that “responding to the issue of displacement with immediate aid is no longer sufficient because the intensity of displacement affected the Lebanese health system and revealed many of its weaknesses.” He said: “It is true that it was able to withstand and did not collapse, but this system has become in dire need of renewing its foundations.” A strong health infrastructure capable of withstanding and developing in the future with the aim of providing the best services at the lowest possible cost.”
In a conference paper, “Chronic non-communicable diseases cause 74% of all deaths globally, equivalent to 41 million deaths annually. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), heart diseases cause most deaths resulting from chronic diseases (17.9 million). people per year), followed by cancer (9.3 million people), respiratory diseases (4.1 million), and diabetes (2 million). About 77% of all chronic diseases and 86% of premature deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
As for Lebanon, which is classified as a low-middle-income country in the Middle East and hosts the highest proportion of refugees relative to its area, infectious diseases, especially cancer and cardiovascular diseases, are the main cause of death at the national level.
According to the World Health Organization, non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer, and respiratory system) cause 91% of deaths in Lebanon and 20% of premature deaths, with a rate of 53% in males and 46% in females.
According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization in 2016, 35% of the Lebanese and 33% of the Syrians suffer from high blood pressure, 10.5% of the Lebanese and 9.4% of the Syrians suffer from diabetes, and 8.2% of the Lebanese and 9.7% of the Syrians suffer from diabetes. People with cardiovascular disease. Also, 38% of Lebanese are smokers and 31% of Syrian refugees are smokers. 61% of Lebanese and 62% of Syrians have low levels of physical activity, respectively; 38% of the Lebanese and 34% of the Syrians are overweight, and 27% of the Lebanese and 29% of the Syrians are obese.
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