Lebanon has been hit for nearly four years by a historic crisis. The health system is at the end of its tether and the treatment of drug addicts is increasingly difficult.
More and more patients who suffer from addictions are asking for help. Exhausted by the crisis, without prospects, some Lebanese have taken refuge in alcohol, but also heroin or cocaine. Substances that are very easy to find, because the country is a veritable drug hub in the region. Some products such as cannabis or amphetamines are even produced on site.
In Beirut, the center of the Skoun association takes care of 500 dependent people each year. “My father was a drug addict, and my uncle was a drug dealer.says Mohammad, 34. I started taking drugs when I was 14: drugs, marijuana, then heroin, cocaine, crack. I couldn’t stop.” After several overdoses, Mohammad decides to seek treatment. For nearly 9 years, he has been accompanied by the Skoun association, which offers him free psychological follow-up and substitution treatment. Essential care that most dependent patients can no longer afford in Lebanon.
More than 90% of the population lives below the poverty line
Without NGOs, Lebanese patients who suffer from addictions would be on their own. Since the crisis, between the bankruptcy of the public health system and the explosion of prices in private clinics, it has become very difficult to follow a detoxification treatment in hospital. Dependent people can only count on NGOs like Skoun to help them out, but the waiting list is long: “There is an increase in people seeking entry into NGO treatment centersaccording to Michelle Wazen, one of the leaders of the association. Because they have less access to private clinics. Unfortunately, the allocation of government funds to this issue remains extremely minimal.”
And the situation should not improve in the short term. The political crisis is paralyzing the country, and like almost all Lebanese institutions, the health system is down. Gradually, NGOs are replacing a failing state, which no longer provides any public service.