The medical system in Lebanon has faced significant challenges since 2019 due to a combination of economic, political, and security factors. The explosion of August 2020 and the last 10 days have posed significant challenges to the system.

In this episode co-hosted with MohammadAli Jardaly, we discuss with Dr. Salah Zeineddine, CMO of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, the challenges the health system is facing and has dealt with, particulary over the past 10 days.

Starting with the pager explosions, the hospitals have dealt with mass casualty events that are ongoing to the current day. Heroic hospital staff have been operating non-stop, taking care of patients, while at the same time, dealing with an extremely unstable situation, while worrying about their family members, houses, and the future.

We discuss the medication and medical supply situation, the role of NGOs on the ground, and the sustainability of the health care efforts as the situation grinds on. We also discuss the ability of the health care system to continue to take care of emergency medical illnesses such as heart attacks, strokes, and others.

At the time of this podcast, there have been more than 1600 deaths and 8000 injuries.

The episode is available on all podcast apps.

#lebanonwar #masscasualtyevents #polytrauma #medicalsupplies