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Dandash’s departure wrote in “Al Akhbar”:
Students at the Lebanese University School of Medicine did not think that the financial economic crisis would negatively affect their path to graduation. In light of the fluctuating exchange rate of the Lebanese pound, they are faced with the dilemma of insuring their “instead” to buy their medical supplies and equipment, which are priced exclusively in US dollars as they are imported. Therefore, today they are faced with a real catastrophe, with the exchange rate on the black market reaching 8,000 Lebanese pounds and their inability to obtain imaginary sums.
From 4,500 pounds (3 dollars) to 24,000, the price of the plastic tooth used by students of the Faculty of Medicine – Specialization in Dentistry of the Lebanese University increased in the training session. This increase was not due to a decision of the college, but to the financial economic crisis and the fluctuation of the exchange rate of the pound against the dollar, which today is around eight thousand Lebanese pounds.
Today, students at the University of the Poor are no longer able to buy those teeth whose prices exceed their financial capacity, especially in light of their need for five teeth per week, which is equivalent to 120 thousand pounds. This means 480 thousand pounds per month, which they deduct from their personal expenses.
In the past, students did not count those teeth as they were not a burden to them, but today they have become an additional concern to their other concerns, so they finally raised their voices, asking the university administration and to the Union of Dentists to take immediate action to find a solution to your situation. In this current circumstance, and in the face of the threat of lifting subsidies, “we have the right to spend the little money available on medicine, food and housing, not to buy educational material whose prices have become extravagant and are beyond the reach of the majority of people. us, ”says one of the students. Today this student, like others, cannot secure the price of the basic supplies he needs, so how is the case with the extras, including teeth?
Under normal circumstances, the cost of medical supplies and equipment that medical students use in education and training ranged from $ 7,000 to $ 10,000 per student during their 5-year study period. And they were able to pay for it, either in dollars or pounds. Today, however, these items are “very expensive.” For example, in the first year of specialization, the student paid the equivalent of 2,500 dollars, equivalent to 3 million and 750 thousand lire. Today, the number of three million has become twenty million, which is expected to increase even more. In some cases, students have to search for a long time for some supplies, due to the shortage faced by the pharmacy of the university dental clinic, which traditionally provided most of the materials used in the patient’s mouth. This is a major problem, especially since the two main warehouses where the university used to buy these materials “are refraining from delivering the items to the pharmacy today due to the current crisis.” This is what the students say, according to the faculty. While students do not hold the key to solving this crisis, they are pressuring the college administration to make a decision to “force the warehouses that have long benefited from the university to cut their profits and carry the burden with us. of this crisis “. However, this did not happen, as the school administration did not issue any initiative towards the students, “so far, the dean has not met with us. He did not present any plan to deal with this situation, ”says another student. He attributes it to the fact that “the faculty of the faculty have stocks and shares in the warehouses, which prevents them from raising their voices that threaten their interests and their source of profit.” For this reason, the students are working today to formulate their own initiative, through “uniting the front of dental students from the different universities in defense of our right to education and the purchase of articles based on the calculation of a special price for students ”, continues the latter. Correspondence with companies abroad and informing them about the situation of students in Lebanon is being considered in an attempt to obtain special offers. As their first destination, the students chose to correspond with companies in China, but this option remains difficult, because “this matter must be dealt with with an import and export company, which we cannot do.” However, the students did not close the door to solutions as they prepared to present a proposal that “the financial returns achieved by the university clinic should be returned to the university fund, not to the Ministry of Finance, especially since the The university’s budget is low and its needs are insufficient for new equipment and materials that patients need and preserve. On device maintenance ». This is what they aspire to do, as this revenue “must be used to support students in these pressing circumstances to secure supplies and laboratory needs. Otherwise, there is a threat to the sector and its development as well as the level of the students. ” In this context, the dean of the Faculty of Dentistry of the Lebanese University, Professor Tony Zeinoun, points out that “the income from the clinics is for the Ministry of Finance and we cannot like the intervention department”, although he considers that “the Money from the clinics should go to the benefit of patients so that they can receive treatment for free or through Special Discount, because most of the patients are from poor common people. “
However, Zainoun supports the right of students to mobility, stating that “the obscene price affects them the same as all Lebanese.” In this regard, he affirms that the administration feels responsible for this matter, remembering that “we have always been in line with our students when they buy the materials they use, which become their property, buying them in easy installments and setting the acceptable price. for all students, which saves them a lot of money ”. He says that while “private university students pay more than twenty thousand dollars to buy their supplies and graduate, our students only pay 350 thousand pounds a year in exchange for their tuition, in addition to buying the materials they use for graduation.” But what about today? Brigadier General Zeinoun has no answer, nor does the administration have an answer for these people … except to feel their crisis.
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