Lebanon on verge of crisis as medicines in short supply

2020-09-21 15:00:50

Lebanon is facing a new crisis, as medicines are in short supply and supplies are taking more than four weeks to secure. Beirut based pharmacist, Mahdi, told Asharq Al-Awsat news site that the crisis is partly caused by many Lebanese people who stockpiled medicines fearing they will not be available or that prices will increase in the coming months. This came after the Central Bank of Lebanon announced that it will no longer be able to subsidise medicine next year. He added that the pharmaceutical companies have recently resorted to providing pharmacies with their usual monthly order of medicine and not the quantities they request. The head of the Pharmacists Syndicate, Ghassan El-Amine, confirmed that the panic caused by the central bank of Lebanon’s announcement prompted people to stockpile medicine, because they know prices will increase once the subsidies are lifted.