NNA – Caretaker Minister of Public Health, Dr. Firas Al-Abyad, inaugurated the Department of Oral and Dental Health funded by the Government of Japan at the Qara Kozyan Primary Health Care Center – Bourj Hammoud, in the presence of the Japanese Ambassador to Lebanon Takeshi Okubo, Archbishop of the Armenian Orthodox Church Shahi Panossian, and the Archbishop of the Armenian Church The Catholic Archbishop Kevork Asadorian, the representative of the Federation of Armenian Evangelical Churches, Reverend Nishan Bagelian, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Alexander Moradian, the former Minister Vartin Ohanian, the Deputy Mayor of Bourj Hammoud Mardig Aslanian, the Head of the Primary Health Care Department in the Ministry of Public Health Dr. Randa Hamadeh and a crowd of stakeholders.
the White
The Minister of Public Health began his speech by stressing “the importance of primary health care services that are provided to the Lebanese community as well as to residents in Lebanon,” noting that the ministry places the “primary health care program” at the forefront of its concerns because these centers focus on the patient and provide him with preventive medicine and services. Multiple health care and a large fan of medicines, which reduces the cost of it.”
He added, “The Ministry of Public Health is working to support these centers spread in various Lebanese regions, especially as the stifling financial crisis has increased the rate of demand for them.”
The White Minister said, “The Ministry of Public Health continues its work amid the current crisis that Lebanon is witnessing to establish a health system that is more effective than the old health system, which failed to respond to the challenges.”
The Minister of Public Health paused before the history of the establishment of the Qara Kozyan Humanitarian Association, which dates back to after the First World War, after the founder lost his only son in an influenza epidemic. He said: “This association is an example of overcoming major crises and turning them into opportunities that benefit society positively.”
The Minister of Public Health expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by the Qara Kozyan Center in the field of primary care, stressing that “its success in this field makes it an example to follow.”
He also thanked the government of Japan and its ambassador in Lebanon for all the support provided to Lebanon in various fields, especially in the health field, where a donation of medical equipment and solar energy systems was recently provided to a number of government hospitals.
Japanese Ambassador
In turn, the Japanese ambassador expressed his happiness to participate in this event, stressing that his country, as a friend of Lebanon, “will continue to provide assistance and support to face the great challenges this country is witnessing.”
Ohanyan
The ceremony included a minute of silence for the souls of the martyrs of the Beirut Port explosion, which caused a lot of damage to the center. In his speech, the director of the Qara Kozyan Center Serop Ohanian spoke about the history of the Qara Kozyan Charitable Society, pointing out that “it began with a tragedy when the Armenian American family of Qara Kozyan, who was living in New York City, USA, lost their 14-year-old son Howard due to the 1918 influenza pandemic. The father decided to establish an association in the name of his son and he officially registered it in Lebanon, at a time when the Armenians faced the terrible genocide in 1915 and were forced to leave their land and a large number of them went to Lebanon.
Ohanian continued, “After a hundred years, the refugee crisis is still continuing, and the pandemic has returned with another virus, but the Kara Kozyan Center still exists to provide care to everyone who needs it, embodying the message for which it was established, which is to provide health care continuously.”
He expressed his pride in the development of work in the center, where the number of beneficiaries of care increased to about two hundred thousand, after it was in the year 2019 to about forty-nine thousand, and that the work team increased from thirty employees to about two hundred and thirty.
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