Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani chaired the first meeting of the PSO’s guiding committee that was launched last April. PSO is the product of collaboration between the Ministry of Public Health, WHO and the AUB.

The Observatory aims at contributing in the development of public health policies, following up on these policies and consolidating the approach of good governance practices adopted by the ministry, in order to ensure sustainability of achievements accomplished by the health sector so far.

The meeting was attended by the MoPH Director General Professor Walid Ammar, the WHO representative in Lebanon Dr. Iman Shankiti, the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the AUB Dr. Iman Nuwayhid, the WHO National Professional Officer Dr. Alissar Radi, Head of Vital Statistics Department Hilda Harb, Head of Public Relations and Health Education Department Dr, Racha Hamra, experts Dr. Wim Vanlerberghe, Dr. Abdel Hay Mechbal, Dr. Nabil Kronfol, Dr. Ghassan Hamadeh and the observatory’s Associate Coordinator Ms. Sawsan Allam.

The meeting discussed the health situation in Lebanon that was found to maintain advanced levels comparing to all the Mediterranean States, in spite of low investment in health sector and its limited budget in general. In fact, the health sector has developed and continues to evolve thanks to the policies adopted by the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon, knowing that the Observatory will focus on maintaining this development.

The attendees agreed on the need to create electronic health files for all the patients; a step already taken by the ministry as part of the Universal health Coverage project that includes electronic infrastructure, public policymaking and the text of law submitted to parliament for endorsement.
 
Hasbani’s statement

After the meeting, Hasbani stressed that the health care system in Lebanon ranked highly compared to the global systems as to the access to quality services and the level of the national health indicators, in spite of the financial difficulties, instability, security and political crises…

When asked about the work areas of the observatory, Minister Hasbani noted that it provides practical and scientific support to policy making.

The observatory should consider the Universal Health Coverage and monitor the development of this policy and how to implement it in case of amendment.

The observatory should also provide support to the sections inside the Ministry of public health concerned in policy making, and encourage open dialogue on policies.