And local media recently reported the news of the death of 4 newborns in several hospitals in Lebanon, as a result of the failure to perform urgent surgeries, as a result of the absence of a cardiac surgeon specialized in their cases, in a tragedy that sheds light on the crisis of “doctors’ emigration.”
The specialist in pediatric cardiology and congenital malformations at the Beirut Heart Center, Nasser Odeh, had spoken of a “tragic situation” under which children and premature infants born with heart problems suffer.
Odeh said in press statements that pediatric heart surgery centers in Lebanon suffer from a severe shortage of specialized surgeons.
In response to what was raised in the media, Abu Sharaf told “Sky News Arabia” that “this news is inaccurate, as there are two specialist doctors available, one of them completely at Rizk Hospital at the Lebanese American University, and the second intermittently at the Great Rasoul Hospital,” referring to They are among the most important doctors in the Middle East in this field.
Abu Sharaf added that “formal errors in the heart that require immediate surgery after birth are very rare, and they can still be treated in Lebanon if the necessary medicines and equipment are available and the hospitalization cost is secured.”
And the captain of doctors explained: “The rate of structural errors in the heart in children is only 0.8 percent, and 30 percent of them recover spontaneously, and 30 percent are not treatable or life-threatening, and the remaining third can be successfully treated with medications and surgery.”
Abu Sharaf considered that “the volume of news circulated is greater than the reality on the ground. Lebanon has been and still is applying the restriction of doctors specializing in this process to major university hospitals.”
Abu Sharaf referred to the decision of the Lebanese Minister of Health, Firas Al-Abyad, which was taken earlier, and contributes to covering 5 times the amount originally allocated for such operations by the Ministry of Health, which is funded by the World Bank.
But the captain concluded his statements with “the necessity of motivating the medical and nursing staff to remain in Lebanon, and supporting them financially, socially and securityly.”
In the same context, Joseph Atiq, director of the American University of Beirut Hospital, said: “I am surprised by the news of the death of the four children due to the absence of specialized doctors.”
He added to “Sky News Arabia” that “the specialized doctor at the American University left it, but in the event that we had to have an operation, any adult heart surgeon can perform it very efficiently if necessary.”