Back to Contents UNRWA in this report titled: Palestine Refugees in Lebanon: Struggling to Survive, wrote: “ESCWA estimates that the share of households deprived from health care rose to 33 per cent in 2021 from 9 per cent in 2019, which corresponds to around 400,000 households out of a total of 1,210,000. [ESCWA, Multidimensional poverty in Lebanon (2019- 2021), September 2021]. The situation will deteriorate further if the government completely ends subsidies on health care and medicine. Given that some 55 per cent of the population are not covered by any form of health insurance, an end to government subsidies will be detrimental. In mid-November, the government lifted additional subsidies on medicine drugs used for cholesterol, blood pressure and other diseases [As reported in Al-Arabiya on 17 November 2021, “From bad to worse: Lebanon lifts more medicine subsidies”] and there are concerns about devastating consequences if subsidies on drugs needed for chronic diseases are completely removed. […] There are alarming reports on Palestine refugees who are forgoing essential treatments for chronic diseases due to their inaccessibility and lack of health insurance coverage. The Agency’s hospitalization policy covers only a percentage of hospital expenses and an increasing number of Palestine refugees are now unable to cover the remaining cost of care.” (Source: UNRWA, “Palestine Refugees in Lebanon: Struggling to Survive” 18 January 2022, p. 12) UN News stated in May 2022 about UNRWA’s difficulties to meet Palestinian refugees’ medical needs: “The health and wellbeing of many Palestinian refugees is at risk if greater funding is not found soon to offset higher costs caused by the global economic crisis, the UN relief agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, said on Tuesday. In Lebanon, where there are around 480,000 refugees registered with UNRWA, its medical director Dr Akihiro Seita, said that the agency was the “only solution” for primary and lifesaving hospital care for these displaced people. But medicines now cost more because of price inflation, and hospital costs for those with mental health problems in Lebanon had risen from $90 per night before the current economic crisis, to $200 per night now, Dr Seita explained. (Source: UN News, “News in Brief 24 May 2022”, 24 May 2022) In its annual report for the year 2021, UNRWA’s department of health gave a summary of its primary mission: “In 2021, the Syrian crisis entered its tenth year. Approximately 40 percent of the 438,000 Palestine refugees in the country have been internally displaced and more than 120,000 Palestine refugees have fled to neighbouring countries, including Jordan and Lebanon. Being doubly displaced, Palestine refugees from Syria (PRS) are often identified as highly vulnerable and more reliant on UNRWA services. During the reporting period, political unrest continued in Lebanon, with the financial crisis in the country deepening, causing fuel scarcity, rampant inflation and shortages of medicines, all of which posed significant challenges for the continuity of UNRWA health services.” (Source: UNRWA, “UNRWA Department of Health, Annual Report 2021”, 24 May 2022, p. 10) The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated in April 2022 that: “Compared to the Lebanese population, more than half of all PRL [Palestinian refugees in Lebanon] households reported that they have at least one member in the household with a health problem who needed to access health care in the three months prior to the assessment [Lebanese Crisis Response Plan 2022, Food Security Section]. The main barriers reported by PRL households in accessing health were the costs related to treatment, consultation, and transportation, same as for Lebanese and migrants [REACH Initiative, Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA), December 2021]. The main coping strategies adopted by households included going to the pharmacy instead of the doctor or clinic, switching to a healthcare facility closer to home, or delaying or cancelling doctors visit or other treatment. More than two-thirds of PRL households (70 percent) across all regions reported that because medication was too expensive, they did not access the needed medication.[REACH Initiative, Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA), December 2021]” (Source: OCHA, “Increasing Humanitarian Needs in Lebanon, April 2022”, 14 April 2022, p. 27) 6. Access to health care 60