tracking

Aladdin lost her job near the port as a result of the disaster, and she also lost a stable life that she hoped to live with her two sons and husband, but today she is unable to stand for a long time or climb stairs, and often suffers from severe bouts of pain in hot and cold weather because of the metal body inside her foot. .

Aladdin tells An-Nahar about her suffering two years ago: “I underwent the first surgery at the expense of the Ministry of Health immediately after the explosion, and health coverage has been cut off since then. I moved from a wheelchair to a walker, then to crutches, and even a chair I paid for.” rent it at that time,” wondering in great pain: “Where is the Ministry of Health from the complications of my permanent pain in the feet and back?”

This woman’s cry for help covering the cost of the operation to remove the penis from her leg has not received a response before, while behind closed doors officials “have diligently humiliated their people, after causing them direct harm as a result of the explosion.” She told An-Nahar: “No one remembers me except on the anniversary of the explosion, and I and 6,000 wounded people live as if we were dead, so who takes care of our psychological treatment?”

It is not only Aladdin’s health that requires follow-up, but also her psychological condition, as she is in constant deterioration, and her heart suffers when she hears a strong sound of aviation, as a result of the trauma she was exposed to in the explosion, and she often cannot afford the cost of her permanent medication.

In addition to her constant pain, the constant disregard of those concerned in the Ministry of Health for her condition led to her suffering from “despair.” rod from my feet?”

There is no official census for them

The port explosion, the catastrophe, left new disabilities for a large number of injured people, but it is remarkable that, after three years, there is no official count of them; The work of the Ministry of Social Affairs is limited to registering cases applying to obtain a “disabled card”, according to the classifications it has, and there are those who have never applied for registration until now in the “Program for Securing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” at the Ministry.

The approximate numbers mentioned by the “Lebanese Union for Persons with Mobility Disabilities” to “An-Nahar” indicate that there are about 800 people with special needs, classified between temporary and permanent disabilities, including people with previous disabilities that were exacerbated by the explosion, but it is statistical and “non-binding.” to the ministry, according to what the head of the program, Hiam Khoury, told Al-Nahar.

Some of the temporary disabilities were treated with time, and their owners returned to practicing their normal lives, while other cases developed into permanent disabilities due to the absence of health follow-up, and others passed away successively.

Legally, every person who has suffered a disability as a result of the explosion, which is “included in the Ministry’s classifications,” has the right to apply for a “disabled card” from the Ministry of Social Affairs, although it is “not activated in reality,” according to the testimonies of the injured.

Khoury understands that people with disabilities are not interested in registering for the program. “The medical incentives that were covered by the disability card are no longer available today, and this situation includes all disabled people in Lebanon, not just the cases injured in the explosion.”

Since the port disaster until today, the affairs centers have not been closed to anyone, according to Khoury, and “we are ready to receive anyone whose injury is included in the classifications, and we are looking for available means to serve them,” stressing that “health coverage is entrusted to the Ministry of Health, not the Ministry of Affairs. Especially the provision of medical and surgical supplies.

As for the question addressed to the Ministry of Public Health from “An-Nahar” about this issue, it did not receive an answer, due to the inability to communicate with the concerned party.

The role of NGOs

For her part, Silvana Lakkis, head of the Union of Mobility Handicapped Persons, told An-Nahar, “Today we are in contact with approximately 70 active cases, while other cases are in the shadows that we have not yet known about, and the situation is very bad.”

She added, “The tragic scene is represented in the absence of health coverage for the disabled. The injury did not kill them, but depriving them of completing their treatment and rehabilitation is the killer. We lost 4 people last year, although their injuries were not serious, but they died due to the lack of access to treatment.”

Al-Laqees confirms the continuous contact with the Ministry of Health to follow up on the file, while “Minister Firas Al-Abyad was clear that we do not have the capabilities to exempt the injured from paying the advance payment prior to admission to the hospital, or the difference in the ministry’s bill as well.”

Faced with this reality, one of the injured, who was injured in the head, stomach, and feet, and underwent many operations over a period of 3 years, is waiting for the approval of the Ministry of Health on his file to perform an emergency operation on him, while there is no answer until now, although his life is at risk with every delay.

Al-Laqees met the suffering of people with special needs by asking the state to “obtain a decent compensation that guarantees them a decent life to live as it was before the explosion. There are challenges and obstacles to securing new jobs, in addition to supporting the families of those who died as a result of injuries to live in dignity,” stressing the need for “fortune Inclusive standards for sidewalks and the city during the reconstruction process.

2023-08-02 13:26:00

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