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

• Ministry of Public Health (MoPH)

• 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.