France donates 7 million euro to RHUH
BEIRUT: France’s donation of 7 million euros to support Lebanon’s main coronavirus hospital has highlighted the importance of health care access to vulnerable populations, head of Rafik Hariri University Hospital Dr. Firass Abiad said Wednesday.
“Six months later and RHUH, despite scarce resources, remains the largest hospital receiving #Covid19 patients. Its staff continue to perform admirably against all odds,” Abiad said in a series of tweets.
“Despite its Covid responsibilities, RHUH remains the referral hospital for the expanding underprivileged population in Beirut and Mount Lebanon,” he said.
Lebanon’s coronavirus cases have seen an alarming surge over the last month, coinciding with the catastrophic Beirut Port explosion which has left at least 300,000 people homeless. Thousands of injuries from the blast further overwhelmed the already strained health care system.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a news conference Tuesday night that France would be donating 7 million euros to RHUH.
This was Macron’s second visit to Lebanon following the explosion.
The Beirut explosion, viewed as the biggest in Lebanon’s history, left large swaths of the capital in ruins, killing at least 190 people, injuring 6,500 and displacing about 300,000 people. The World Bank Group has placed the damage from the explosion at as high as $4.6 billion, with an additional $2.9 billion to $3.5 billion incurred in economic losses in the wake of the blast.
