The Minister of Public Health, Dr. Firas Al-Abyad, met with the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at Rafic Hariri University Hospital, during the visit that Ghebreyesus was keen to make to the hospital, accompanied by the Director of the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Ahmed Ben Salem. Al-Mandhari and the organization’s representative in Lebanon, Dr. Iman Al-Shanqiti.

Ghebreyesus affirmed the organization’s commitment to stand by Lebanon and provide support to it, noting the country’s “leading experience in confronting Corona.”

The White Minister noted “the support provided by the World Health Organization to Lebanon, which formed the basis in the process of facing the challenges imposed by the Corona pandemic,” stressing that “continued coordination and permanent communication with the organization will ensure the continuation and development of the successful response to the pandemic.”

He pointed out that “Lebanon is looking forward to more support, especially in light of the difficult conditions it is going through, which have had repercussions on the health system, so that efforts are made to secure emergency needs on the one hand and rehabilitate the health system to face any possible future challenges on the other hand.”

A tour of Hariri Hospital
Dr. Ghebreyesus toured and the accompanying delegation in the hospital departments, especially the sections designated for Corona patients, where he was received by the Director General of the hospital, Waheeda Ghalayini, Medical Director Dr. Mahmoud Hassoun, Head of the Department of Bacterial Diseases, Dr. Pierre Abi Hanna, and Head of the Laboratory Department, Dr. Rita Feghali.

Ghebreyesus noted “the importance of the vital role played by this medical edifice, which has developed remarkably in recent years, which qualifies it for a leading health role at the national level, as the hospital’s experience in the face of Corona can be an example to follow.”