Ibrahim Mohamad
The Royal Marsden, Fulham Road, London SW3 6JJ, UK.
Ecancermedicalscience. 2023 Nov 9;17:ed130. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2023.ed130. eCollection 2023.
Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, has been burnt and rebuilt seven times, earning the title of an urban phoenix. Its strategic geolocation in the heart of the Mediterranean gave the country leverage for the economy, by becoming a hotspot for trade through its different ports. Its cultural and religious diversity provided a fertile ground for businesses to grow, most importantly the banking and healthcare sector. The strategic location also put the country in the eye of the storm of different major crises, leaving the small country a crippling state, swamped with political corruption, nepotism, fragile infrastructure, and an overall dysfunctional system. In October 2019, the collapse of the banking system led to a state of hyperinflation in the country, with the financial and economic crisis in Lebanon now ranked in the top 10 most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century. This crisis exposed the extent of corruption and dysfunctionality: a fragmented healthcare sector struggling to protect the vulnerable populations especially cancer patients, a workforce seeking exodus due to challenging work conditions amid a state of hyperinflation, and a fragile infrastructure unable to withstand climate changes in one of the hottest and driest areas on the planet, the Middle East. Despite being caught in this turmoil, Lebanon still managed to update its national climate pledge under the Paris Agreement. However, the financial recovery plan that is aiming to revive the economy and overcome short-term financial challenges, has a risk of affecting long-term climate-proofing efforts. In a multilevel crisis-torn country, it might be difficult to look on the impact of climate change in particular on cancer care, without accounting for the other ongoing troubles. In such circumstances, protecting public health becomes a major challenge yet a priority. The resilience of the system is currently being tested as the crisis evolves, and should be continuously monitored.
黎巴嫩首都贝鲁特曾七次被焚毁又重建，因而赢得了“城市凤凰”的称号。它位于地中海中心的战略地理位置，通过其不同港口成为贸易热点，为该国经济带来了优势。其文化和宗教多样性为企业发展提供了肥沃土壤，最重要的是银行业和医疗保健行业。这一战略位置也使该国处于不同重大危机的风暴中心，让这个小国陷入瘫痪状态，充斥着政治腐败、任人唯亲、脆弱的基础设施以及整体功能失调的体系。2019年10月，银行系统的崩溃导致该国出现恶性通货膨胀状态，黎巴嫩的金融和经济危机目前位列自19世纪中叶以来全球最严重的十大危机事件之中。这场危机暴露了腐败和功能失调的程度：一个支离破碎的医疗保健部门难以保护弱势群体尤其是癌症患者，在恶性通货膨胀状态下，由于工作条件艰苦，劳动力纷纷外流，还有脆弱的基础设施无法承受中东这个地球上最热、最干旱地区之一的气候变化。尽管陷入这场动荡，黎巴嫩仍设法根据《巴黎协定》更新了其国家气候承诺。然而，旨在振兴经济并克服短期财政挑战的金融复苏计划，有影响长期气候防护努力的风险。在一个饱受多层次危机困扰的国家，如果不考虑其他持续存在的问题，可能很难关注气候变化对癌症护理的影响。在这种情况下，保护公众健康成为一项重大挑战，但也是一项优先事项。随着危机的演变，该系统的复原力目前正在接受考验，应持续进行监测。
