On Saturday, the Undersecretary of the Health Ministry of the Government of Accord (GNA), Muhammad Haitham, held the Presidential Council responsible for the collapse of the health system in Libya, stressing that he is ready to submit all evidence to substantiate his claims.
In press statements, Haitham said that the Health Ministry is being politically blackmailed, noting that the Presidential Council delayed the budget allocation for the ministry, which seriously impeded efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The Undersecretary urged the state’s regulatory authorities to investigate the charges directed against the Presidential Council in order to stop such illegal practices in the country. “We are facing difficulty in completing the implementation of the ministry’s plan to control the deadly virus due to escalating political pressure,” Haitham complained.
He also confirmed that he has survived a political assassination attempt shortly after his urgent meeting with Al-Sarraj and claimed that smear campaigns will not deviate him from completing his national mission.
Haitham pointed out that he would present a financial analysis of the current fiscal year compared to previous years with a visual presentation of what has been accomplished by the health ministry.
More generally, the World Health Organisation has voiced alarm over the uptick in infections in Libya and warned that the real number of Covid-19 cases is likely far greater than expected. The international organisation blamed “an acute shortage of tests and laboratory capacity” in Libya for the situation. In addition to mismanagement, the country’s healthcare system has been badly damaged by years of conflict.
Libya has been in conflict since the fall of dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011. The western half of the country is currently controlled by the GNA, based in Tripoli and backed by a range of militias and Turkish forces, while the east is governed by the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by commander Khalifa Haftar and backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.