Hassan Khalil: The issue of medicaments is a red line

Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said Thursday that Lebanon is facing a historic opportunity after the food security file was opened to punish the violators. He stressed that this opportunity must not be wasted to guarantee accountability to guarantee food security that compensates the government’s impotence in some issue.        

During a press conference, Khalil said that there is no systematic control on the foodstuffs imported and that the state is falling short in securing clean drinking water to citizens. He said that while he does not want to panic citizens, the survey does not show promising results and some companies were already warned.       
As for medicaments, Khalil said that surveillance operations and inspections resulted in dozens of sanctions against companies. These inspections occur daily but are not made public by the media. “This file is not seasonal, but permanent”, he said.        

Khalil revealed that the ministry took a number of measures by bringing medicaments to Lebanon according to the rules seen appropriate by the technical committee and experts. “The issue of medicaments is a red line”, he said.