Already threatened by the political crisis and the coronavirus, hospitals in Beirut are now in agony: two doctors testify (video)

A double explosion on Tuesday killed at least 137 people in Beirut. The disaster comes in a country where hospitals are already at the end of their rope. For a long time now, doctors and nurses have lacked everything. They are now asking for emergency aid.

For RTL INFO, two doctors at the heart of the crisis testify from Beirut by videoconference. “When I arrived at the hospital, there were wounded on the floor, blood on the floor“, says Nabil Helou, radiologist.”We couldn’t predict anything. We had to make do, improvise“, adds his colleague Imad Aboujaoude, gynecologist.

On Tuesday evening, the two doctors we interviewed arrived as reinforcements in a hospital seven kilometers from the two explosions. Thousands of people are flocking. 200 wounded are taken care of. About thirty operations are carried out in a few hours. “We used up everything in one night. All our stock of medical products, gloves, compresses, drugs … We have practically exhausted everything, explique Nabil Helou.

Hospitals on the verge of bankruptcy

The situation is worrying. The hospital sector has been in great difficulty for several months. There are more and more layoffs. Some hospitals are on the verge of bankruptcy, others are closing floors to limit costs.

The causes are multiple: the delay in payments from the State estimated at more than one billion euros and a devaluation of the pound, the country’s currency.

We met a Belgian-Lebanese surgeon in Belgium who knows the problem well. “The dollar was exchanged at 1,500 Lebanese pounds. Now the dollar is at 5,000 or even as high as 9,000 Lebanese pounds. Which was a major problem because the majority of these products, gasoline, fuel oil, etc. are paid by the dollar“, says Mohamad Farran, Belgian-Lebanese surgeon.

We must find a solution otherwise we will not be able to survive

Fuel oil is overpriced, electricity problems are increasing. Hospitals are holding up with their own generators. “We were in a borderline economic situation and it all happened all at once. At the time, we reacted properly, without thinking about the expenses. But there we must find a solution otherwise we will not be able to survive“, indique Nabil Helou.

In the already very difficult context of the coronavirus

To all this is added the management of covid-19. The numbers are on the rise. For 15 days, hospitals had been filling up and were already practically approaching saturation before the disaster on Tuesday.

“The contamination will certainly re-explode after what has happened. We were in the emergency room more or less … between the injured, the parents, their families, there were thousands of people everywhere.“, explains Imad Aboujaoude.

The double explosion also destroyed four hospitals, making the situation even more difficult. The solidarity and courage of the Lebanese keeps the system going, hoping for external help as quickly as possible.

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