(14 Sep 2021) LEAD IN:
Cancer patients in Lebanon struggle to find life-saving medication as the country continues to experience shortages in medicine.
STORY-LINE:
Saydi Mubarak and her mother share a bond that goes beyond a close mother-daughter relationship: They were both diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago and underwent months of chemotherapy at a Beirut hospital, together facing the anxiety, the hair loss and the uncertainty for the future.
Now they share the fear of not being able to get the medication they need to complete their treatment because in Lebanon, where a devastating economic crisis has upended daily life, there are almost no drugs to be found.
The small Mediterranean country is grappling with severe shortages in medical supplies, fuel and other necessities.
The drug shortages threaten tens of thousands of people, including cancer patients.
In desperation, many have taken to social media or turned to travelers coming from abroad.
Mubarak, a 36-year-old high-school teacher and mother of two boys, says the feeling of not being safe never leaves her.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer in July last year, a few weeks before her mother, Helen Akiki, discovered a lump in her breast.
After months of chemo, Mubarak had a mastectomy in December. She is now undergoing a therapy that's supposed to take 10 years, consisting of a daily pill and a monthly hormone injection to make sure the cancer doesn't return.
As the shortages grew more dire and Mubarak was unable to find the hormone, the family posted her story on Instagram along with Mubarak's cell phone number.
Six days after she was due for an injection, a traveler from neighboring Jordan hand-delivered her the drug.
"It was very emotional," Mubarak recounted, sitting in the garden of her single-story house in Qleiat, a mountain town north of Beirut. She said the traveler refused to accept payment.
Because of Lebanon's fuel crisis, they also worry about whether they will find enough gasoline each time they need to drive into Beirut for treatment.
Issam Shehadeh, head of the cancer department at Beirut's Rafik Hariri University Hospital, said the situation has deteriorated significantly in the past three months.
The Health Ministry's stockpiles of critical medicine are now empty, and many hospitals are unable to secure supplies from importers who are holding back.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
