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MENA Observatory – Editorial Committee
Those who did not die from the explosion died without others. Lebanon’s suffering increases with the spread of the smuggling and corruption mafia, which has recently been active in the trade and smuggling of imported medicines into Lebanon through illegal crossings controlled by Hezbollah, as is the case with the sector of the diesel and food.
As thousands of Lebanese stand in front of pharmacies to buy and store drugs for fear of being interrupted, MENA sources confirm: “The drug smuggling process has become reversible. By the time Lebanese medicine leaves Syria and Egypt, the smuggling mafia is bringing Iranian and Syrian medicine to areas it controls. In it, the Hezbollah militia. “Noting that” the pharmacies that are spread out in the party areas do not suffer much from the absence of drugs because they were replaced by drugs smuggled from Iran and Syria. “
In addition, the Lebanese “Hassan”, a pseudonym, explains: “The Hezbollah militia always finds an alternative to the crises that hit Lebanon in its areas of control, turning it into a new source of livelihood, which depends mainly on illegal crossings. and relations with the Assad regime and Iran. ” Noting that “Syrian and Iranian medicines are mainly found in Shiite areas, and party officials are monitoring their distribution and transportation in the absence of state control.”
Twice less …
The head of the Union of Drug Importers, “Karim Jabara”, confirmed that “the delay in the opening of credits has affected the stock of medicines in Lebanon, and the low stock automatically leads to the interruption of some medicines.” Noting that “the worst scenario is that the importer goes to the black market to ensure his need for foreign exchange, that prices rise and change between one pharmacy and another, that a drug disappears and is replaced by a contraband or counterfeit drug.”
Regarding the source of the medicines, Hassan explains: “Medicines are bought from pharmaceutical laboratories in Syria, especially medicines for incurable diseases that have been lost from the Lebanese market, including sugar and pressurized medicines, so the price of Syrian medicine is twice less than the price of foreign medicine. ” He explained that “the drug is sold openly in pharmacies, and everyone does not care about the decisions of the Ministry of Health and Economy.”
Last week, Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced that health authorities launched a mass inspection campaign at drug warehouses in the country, in light of growing reports of the storage of large quantities of drugs subsidized by the state in preparation for smuggling out of Lebanon.
The Minister of Health also clarified: that the inspection campaign is part of a series of emergency measures to discuss the drug crisis and find the necessary solutions to it, in addition to determining a monitoring mechanism that will enter the Lebanese market , highlighting that “at this stage it will not issue warnings, but we will make quick decisions to close for a period of no less than one week for those who commit transgressions.
Private sources told the “MENA” observatory at the time that “many smuggling operations in general, including drug trafficking, go to Syria through the illegal points of sale that Hezbollah runs between the two countries, which were preceded by the Secretary General of the party, Hassan Nasrallah. ” To announce your total rejection upon closing.
The sources downplayed the effectiveness of the Ministry of Health’s campaign against storage and smuggling operations, noting that “these operations are carried out with the support of entities that have an influence that exceeds the influence of the Lebanese state as a whole, and that the maximum that this campaign can offer is the closure of some small pharmacies, for informational purposes ”.
Big losses ..
A group of Lebanese pharmacists went on strike last Tuesday to protest what they described as inequality and manipulation by distributors in the quantities of drug rations assigned to pharmacies, and the limited distribution of some drugs to specific pharmacies. which caused them great losses, they said. Considering in a statement issued by them, the policy of rationing the quantities of drugs supplied in the market violates the Lebanese law on the exercise of the profession of pharmacy.
In addition, the pharmacists emphasized that what drug suppliers are following in Lebanon is a violation of the right of pharmacies and the systematic targeting of pharmacists, and that they did not accept the silence on these practices, accusing drug suppliers of unfair distribution of medicines.
The statement also led to the manipulation of the flow of medicines by losing them in some pharmacies and their abundant availability in other pharmacies, indicating that their losses during the last period reached 80 percent, due to the ongoing crisis and the irregular distribution of medicines.
Lebanon had witnessed, over the past period, the phenomenon of increasing drug prices and losing them in the market, amid warnings about the danger of eliminating government subsidies for drugs.
Through the airport to the outside.
In turn, the head of the Pharmacists Union “Ghassan Al-Amin” revealed: “Since the beginning of the economic crisis, 200 pharmacies have been closed, since the number of closed pharmacies may increase to a thousand”, noting that “they represent the 35 percent of pharmacies in Lebanon. “
The head of the Pharmacists Union considered that “the policies followed in recent years have led to the depletion of a large part of the capital of the pharmacy owners.”
Meanwhile, the head of the National Health Authority in Lebanon, Ismail Sukkariyah, accused some smugglers of selling Lebanese medicines to foreign countries, especially Iraq and Libya. Noting that “drug traffickers buy and store them and then smuggle them across borders to countries abroad, and the main smuggling destination is Iraq, and then Libya, since the drugs are sold for many times their price in Lebanon, drug smuggling operations are mainly carried out through the airport. “
The head of the National Authority “Sukkariyya” warned “of another disaster, which is the opening of the Lebanese market, the shortage of medicines and their high price in case the subsidies are lifted, and consequently the entry of cheaper medicines, but of poor quality, who enter the country through (bag smugglers) or even drug traffickers. ” Health to strengthen the control of merchants and warehouses.
At the same time, the Lebanese authorities announced, in a statement last Tuesday, that they had thwarted the smuggling of large quantities of drugs from Lebanon to Egypt through the Beirut airport. Noting that “the smuggling operation was carried out by 6 Egyptians, who were heading to Cairo.”
“In the context of limiting the smuggling of medicines out of Lebanese territory and given the need of citizens for its negative repercussions on the Lebanese economy and the public interest, the members of the unit of the security apparatus of embassies, administrations and public institutions they were able, on October 4, 2020, to thwart the smuggling operation, “the statement said. Amount of medications ”.
Humanitarian warnings.
Warnings of the new catastrophe reached relief organizations, as the organization “Dirt Relief” announced that the Lebanese medical sector is suffering a very serious crisis, which affects the lives of patients and their access to necessary treatments and care especially after the Beirut port explosion and the escalating economic crisis.
The member of the relief organization “ANERA”, “Dima Al-Zayat”, highlighted that the biggest crisis in the medical sector concerns the high prices of medicines and the interruption of many of them, adding: “Although the people have money to buy medicine, it is not available in pharmacies and for the injured. With chronic diseases, it is very stressful. “
In the same context, Al-Zayat indicated that the escalating costs of treatment in Lebanese hospitals have exceeded the ability of Lebanese to receive the necessary treatment, especially for those with chronic diseases, who have been greatly affected by the crises. current events, noting that the economic crisis in Lebanon is limited. The government’s ability to import a variety of drugs and supplies, including drugs for chronic diseases.
Drug prices rose significantly, coinciding with news that the Central Bank had removed subsidies for a group of drugs, prompting many Lebanese families to stockpile needed drugs.
It is noteworthy that the current crisis in the pharmaceutical sector coincided with suffocating crises experienced by the Lebanese people, as poverty rates rose to more than 50 percent and unemployment to 35 percent. Prices also continued to rise and the Lebanese pound fell against the dollar to record levels, amid warnings from the United Nations about the high rate of hunger in the country, which exceeded one million people until the end of the year.
