Fuel crisis endangers lives of patients in Lebanon, syndicate warns

BEIRUT, Lebanon

The Syndicate of Hospitals in Lebanon warned Wednesday that the lives of many patients are in danger due to a shortage of fuel affecting the country.

“The diesel crisis has affected the work of hospitals as the storage facilities in Tripoli and Zahrani have been drained and very limited quantities remain with private importing companies,” the syndicate said in a statement.

It also warned that the majority of hospitals have enough fuel for only two days at most, adding that the state remains helpless.

Last week, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned of a critical drinkable water shortage to millions of people in Lebanon.

“Unless urgent action is taken, more than four million people across Lebanon – predominantly vulnerable children and families – face the prospect of critical water shortages or being completely cut off from safe water supply in the coming days," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement.

Last month, the UN agency warned that 71% of Lebanon’s population could run out of water this summer.

For the past few months, Lebanon has been suffering from an acute shortage of fuel due to the lack of sufficient foreign exchange which have affected imports, causing frequent power cuts and a severe fuel shortage.

The Arab country has witnessed a severe economic crisis in the past two years that has left it on the verge of financial collapse.

On Saturday, the Lebanese government agreed to reduce fuel import subsidies to an exchange rate of 8000 liras per dollar instead of 3,900 liras. Following the announcement, the prices of fuel sold in Lebanon jumped by more than 66 percent.

Reducing fuel subsidies would raise the prices of other goods and services that depend on fuel to generate electricity for production such as factories and private bakeries.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara