The multiple ongoing, economic, social and financial crisis have taken a huge toll on the healthcare system, particularly amongst the vulnerable populations living in Lebanon. The Covid-19 pandemic and the double explosion of the 4th of August further weakened the healthcare sector of the country, with many hospitals not able to provide patients with life-saving surgery and urgent medical care.
Unemployment rates are rising due to the economic crisis coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, which implicates an increase in the percentage of the uninsured population requiring health coverage. The poverty rate increased to 75% of the population, which means 75% of the population have their healthcare coverage in jeopardy. Indeed, the percentage of uninsured population is rising drastically, putting additional pressure on the already ailing governmental subsidized healthcare services.
The delivery of healthcare services in Lebanon relies heavily on the private sector, with public hospital beds accounting for 14% of total beds in 2018, and today many medical services provided in hospitals are no longer affordable to an increasing number of the populations
As a result, the Order of Malta Lebanon has taken upon itself to go beyond primary healthcare and cover patients’ secondary and tertiary care including medical exams as well as surgeries with a period of 3 months thanks to the support of the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development as well as Malteser International.
The project that was implemented in 2021, covered 422 cases, 58% of those treated with surgeries.
To guarantee the success of the project, OML put in place a set of strict policies and procedures to be adopted to unify the process and ensure that all patients are treated equally and receive the same treatment without any discrimination. These guidelines were approved with our German donors with whom OML was closely working.
OML covered hospitalization costs of both public and private university hospitals located across the country to reach all populations, especially those living in remote areas with limited access to healthcare services.
Most of the patients who were operated are patients of the community healthcare centers of the Order in order to ensure a 360 approach to their wellbeing and welfare.
The head of the medical committee of the OML Dr. Bechara Asmar mentioned that following the success of this initiative, work is underway to ensure the needed funds to answer the needs of the most vulnerable communities and undertake more surgeries to the patients of our centers. Most importantly, excellence is what drives us, ensuring that everyone who knocks at the door of OML receives the best treatment and quality care.
The long-term objective is to increase the medical services offered by OML, depending on the needs to the populations. This has started with the specialized clinics launched in February 2022 including neurodegenerative diseases, oncology and mental health, followed by secondary as well as tertiary care.