Health System Resilience in Lebanon: A Consistent Progress Amidst Political Instability by Dr. Walid Ammar

Despite the ongoing insecurity climate and socio-political instability for decades, the Lebanese healthcare system has been able to sustain achievements among which, controlling and preventing outbreaks, ensuring universal accessibility to essential quality care, decreasing out of pocket expenditures and lowering of maternal and child mortality (achievement of MDGs 4 and 5)[1]. Five years into the Syrian crisis, the Lebanese health system is still showing considerable resilience, despite the unprecedented increase of demand and strain on the healthcare system. The continuous focus on non-emergency reforms in the health sector shows that progress in achieving strategic goals has been maintained against all odds. It is, hence, noteworthy to look at the main historical stages of the health system development following the 1975-1989 civil war. (Read more...)