Health Minister in the caretaker government, Firas Al-Abiad, indicated that "the information published regarding the different mechanism of the Ministry of Health in distributing funds to hospitals is incorrect, and our aim was to deliver the money quickly and ensure health coverage." Al-Abiad added in an interview with MTV: "The Ministry of Health has reserves in financial ceilings, and we will allow hospitals to exceed them in specific cases at the ministry's expense. Our priority is cancer patients, kidney dialysis, and heart patients." He noted that "the mechanism we adopted for distributing financial ceilings is the best possible, but it requires deeper study and we need to hold workshops in this regard. The ministry has become more capable of standing by the citizen."
He continued: "We aim to stop the exploitation of patients regarding medical supplies, and the ministry has conditioned hospitals to adopt the FDA standard to prevent manipulation of quality." He pointed out that "drug costs in Lebanon were the highest in the world due to the uncontrolled use of medications and smuggling, and the ministry has adopted health protocols that allowed us to regulate medication." Al-Abiad also revealed that "part of the cancer medications is secured, and we will witness an improvement in the quantities available with the launch of the tender next week."
