Lebanon Healthcare 101
Structure of the Healthcare
In Lebanon, primary healthcare involves offering prevention and curative services in Essential Medication, Health Awareness, Environment Health, Nutrition, Mother and Child Health, Immunization, Mental Health, Communicable Diseases, and Non Communicable Diseases.
Private and public healthcare centers all have healthcare specialists including General Practitioners (GPs)/Family Medicine, Midwives, Nurses, and Support Personnel (including pharmacists, laboratories, radiology technicians, dieticians, and social workers).
Financing Healthcare
Healthcare services are funded by either cash, insurance, or different payment methods. The specific options available to patients include:
National Social Security Fund (NSSF)
Cooperative of the Civil Servants (Coop)
Military Schemes
Private Insurance Companies
Mutual Funds
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Donor Assistance
Following the financial crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and recent port blast, Lebanon’s healthcare space requires heavy and lucrative investment. This is necessary to ensure that its population has access to the best medical services possible.
Investment Opportunities
Lucrative opportunities to invest in the Lebanese Republic’s healthcare space include but are not limited to:
Modern state-of-the-art healthcare facilities
Long term rehabilitation centers
Medical technology
Pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
Start Ups & Technology
Lebanese start-ups working toward these solutions include but are not limited to:
Clairways
RxMed
Kirontech
Imagine Care
Doseoptics
Most health-tech startups leverage technology to create telemedicine and doctor booking platforms. Some of the technologies employed include:
Artificial Intelligence
Chatbots
Voice Recognition Search
Machine Learning
POS (Point of Sale) technology that supports swiping cards with ease
Challenges
The health sector in Lebanon faces challenges towards development. Such challenges include but are not limited to:
Limited access to healthcare
Healthcare expenses are costly
Shortage of equipment
Dominance of private hospitals compared to public hospitals
Influx of refugees which overwhelm hospital capacity
Solutions
Drafting more Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) will allow for establishments of modern healthcare facilities to cater for the growing need of medical services, equipment, and technology.
Agencies such as UNHCR and UNRWA should put more effort in attending to healthcare needs of the refugees, so as the burden to bear such costs is lifted from the government of Lebanon.
Leveraging ties with GCC will create a medical ecosystem to attend to nationals and residents of the Arab region. This will be cost effective, as expertise, personnel, and even equipment can be accessed by member countries to ensure healthcare is accessible to everyone.