The explosion at the seaport of Beirut caused significant damage to the health system in Lebanon, the head of the city's Medical Workers' Union, Sharaf Abu Sharaf announced on Sunday at a press conference.
"At least 2,000 Lebanese doctors were injured and lost their jobs, and their private clinics were destroyed by the blast," he said. According to Sharaf, about half of the 55 major hospitals and medical centers in Beirut now need urgent financial assistance to repair the damage and start functioning.
"We have learned that doctors who lost their jobs are now trying to get a job abroad," Abu Sharaf said. "Such a mass outflow of specialists in the field of medicine is unacceptable, it is necessary to take measures so that these people can return to work as soon as possible." According to him, the created crisis headquarters at the union has now organized the collection of financial assistance to the injured doctors and their families.
"However, their private clinics need to purchase expensive equipment, and this is difficult in the context of the economic crisis," he stressed.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that 10 containers containing personal protective equipment needed to fight the coronavirus were destroyed in the explosion. Another five containers burned in the port contained cold storage boxes with vaccines for children, which were handed over by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Hoda Kusta, an adviser to the Beirut mayor's office, said earlier that three hospitals - St. George's, Geitaoui and Rosaire - suffered the most material damage during the explosion. "The children's tuberculosis dispensary in Quarantine has been almost completely destroyed," she said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS