2023-07-13 12:56:06
The Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut and its dependencies, Archbishop Elias Odeh, received the Head of the Pharmacists Syndicate, Joe Salloum, who said following the meeting: “It is not possible for us to be with our master, Archbishop Odeh, and not to invoke what was stated in the Gospel of John (8:32): You know the truth and the truth sets you free.”
And he continued, “From here, we will always tell the truth, and we will always say that there is counterfeit and smuggled medicine that enters Lebanon and kills the Lebanese without the officials moving a finger. We will continue to say that there is a change in Lebanon’s health and drug identity through the proliferation of illegal pharmacies, shops, bag dealers, and the Internet.”
Salloum continued, “We will continue to say that there are patients who did not receive their medicine and died from the disease because their subsidized medicine was smuggled abroad and no one did anything. We will continue to say that there are officials who do not fulfill their duties to secure medicine for patients and protect them, and to secure good medicine and secure the patients’ financial ability to obtain Their medicine. We will repeat that the Lebanese citizen is suffering because no one cares regarding him.”
He added, “The health situation in Lebanon is dire, and there are a large number of medicines spread in it whose quality is manipulated and interfered without accountability or control. It is unacceptable for a Lebanese patient to be given medicine that is not licensed by the Ministry of Health, and we know its quality and quality. The Lebanese patient is not a field of experiment in anyone’s hands, and it is not a place.” For personal benefits. Health is the basis for preserving citizens and preserving Lebanon’s reputation and the quality of health in it and the image we wish for.”
Salloum pointed out, “Bishop Odeh promised us to raise the voice on the issue of medicine and securing it for patients, by combating all forms of smuggling and tampering with the health of the Lebanese and the reputation of the country.”
In response to a question regarding whether the Minister of Public Health in the caretaker government, Firas Al-Abyad, was informed of the smuggled medicine and what was his response, he said: “The issue of smuggled and counterfeit medicine and its disastrous effects on the health of the patient does not need someone to know regarding it. This issue is well known, more than 30 to 40 percent. Among the medicines that exist today in the Lebanese market are smuggled medicines, and most of them are counterfeit and not registered with the Ministry of Health. We are not only talking regarding medicines, but also regarding nutritional supplements that are no less harmful and dangerous than medicine.
Salloum added, “We filed lawsuits before the General Court of Appeal and the Financial Court to punish all those who kill our patients. There is a response today from the judiciary, but it is nothing but a response. We need more active steps from officials. They cannot, under the pretext of the lack of medicine in Lebanon, legislate All forms of chaos in terms of drug preparation and illegal pharmacies and allowing the entry of medicines from Iran, Syria, Turkey and India without anyone paying any attention to this issue.
He stated, “We cannot remain under the pretext that there is no medicine in Lebanon, that we do nothing to unify the guarantee funds and give the Lebanese patient the financial ability to buy medicine. The Lebanese citizen can no longer afford to buy medicine. There are Lebanese and Lebanese patients dying because they have no financial ability to buy medicine.” There are cancer patients who die because the state does not provide them with their medicine because it was smuggled abroad.”
Regarding the role of the Pharmacists Syndicate with regard to the high price of medicine, he said: “The role of the Syndicate is to monitor pharmacies in compliance with the official pricing and in the absence of smuggled and counterfeit medicines, and it is the first to develop a plan to give a health and drug card to patients through which they can obtain medicine for free from pharmacies.
He pointed out, “Unfortunately, the officials did not respond to us on this issue. If we started two years ago with the issue of the drug card and united the guarantee funds, we would not have wasted billions of dollars on support and the patient would not have received his medicine.”
And whether the syndicate has the right to control sports medicine, he said: “All medicines that are given in pharmacies have the right to control them, but medicines outside the scope of pharmacies do not have the control authority over them. Our authority is a moral authority. Sports medicines and food supplements that are given outside pharmacies and most of them are forged and reflected.” Negatively on the patient’s health, our oversight is moral, not commercial.
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