On Thursday, a number of Libyan war-wounded and oncology patients complained about their “tragic conditions in Italy,” indicating that they have been “enduring miserable health conditions for a long time, without receiving treatment or grants designated for them.”
This comes at a time when Prime Minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba has donated one million dollars for the reconstruction of Turkey, after its devastating earthquake. This has left Libyan patients at home and abroad to suffer from poor health and living conditions.
In a statement, they noted that, “Delayed treatments may lead to the amputation of some patients’ limbs. We are also at the risk of being kicked out of hospitals, due to incomplete residence permit procedures for the wounded.”
They urged the Libyan government to “cover the cost of treatment for all those who deserve treatment, especially those who need serious and urgent operations.” The patients appealed to the authorities, led by the Ministry of Health, to intervene quickly to solve the issue.
They also demanded that the “stipends for the wounded and sick be paid monthly, so that they would not be subjected to humiliation due to accumulated debts.”
In January, Al-Areej International Medical Services Company in Tunisia said that no new Libyan patients will be accepted. It added that current patients will be discharged from medical clinics in Tunisia, due to the accumulation of debts and non-payment by the Libyan Embassy.
The company is the exclusive agent contracted by the Libyan Ministry of Health for years, to treat Libyan patients in Tunisia. The company has monopolized treatments and “consistently humiliated Libyans who receive treatment,” according to the testimony of several patients.
The company imposed large increases in treatment prices, under the pretext that it provides its services on credit. The patients confirmed that “as soon as payments stop, the company will expel them and stop treatment until the money is deposited in its accounts.”
