Al Makassed Hospital and the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) are just two of the hospitals that have been recently hit by the critical fuel shortage.
The Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH), which has been the main hospital at the frontline of the pandemic, is also under duress.
Various local and international donors have provided the RHUH this week with aid, as well as fuel from the Lebanese army following a judicial order. However, its fuel reserves are rapidly depleting and cannot sustain it longer.
In a brief but disheartening tweet on Thursday, Dr. Firas Abiad, the head of the hospital, declared, quite frustratingly, that the hospital has not been provided with state electricity since Monday.
The hospital is operating solely on generators, and this has been the case for more than 72 hours. He noted that their fuel reserves are depleting, and officials have not responded to this critical situation, even after numerous calls and official correspondences.
بس لأخذ العلم. كهرباء الدولة مقطوعة عن مستشفى رفيق الحريري الجامعي من نهار الاثنين. المولدات لها دايرة اكثر من ٧٢ ساعة متواصلة. وصلنا مازوت من جهات مانحة دولية والجيش ومتبرعين، لكن الكميات تنفذ بسرعة. كل النداءات والمراسلات الرسمية لم يأت عليها اي رد. بس هيك.
— Firass Abiad (@firassabiad) August 19, 2021
Such news would be, under normal circumstances, startling, to say the least. However, with the current state of affairs in Lebanon, this has become a dangerously recurrent event, and the hospitals are nearing a complete collapse.
As highly alarming as this is, those in power are acting as if it isn’t, and that despite the ongoing pandemic and the critical requirement to have the country’s hospitals properly equipped.
Some essentials to a nation’s survival could be, to a certain degree, rationed or disregarded without risking lives. Hospital services are not among them. Too many lives depend on them.
