BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour lauded Tuesday the government’s accomplishments over the past year, and revealed that his ministry was working on new projects to expand the food safety campaign.
"This government has achieved many things which previous administrations could not realize, including the security plans in the north and east of Lebanon, the food security campaign, and anti-corruption drives in many ministries, notably finance and agriculture,” Abu Faour said in his annual report, excerpts of which were published by the state-run National News Agency.
Abu Faour expressed satisfaction over “successes achieved” by the Ministry of Health “in almost every endeavor it undertook,” especially the campaign against food corruption and better public medical care.
“The scale of success in the food security campaign is determined by the continuity and sustainability of the campaign, notably by putting in place the institutional framework to ensure that it becomes a permanent policy and not an ad hoc exercise that depends on a minister or a government,” Abu Faour said.
In his report, the Progressive Socialist Party minister said projects in the pipeline included the establishment of a public
health prosecutor office, enactment of mandatory food safety standards to be implemented by all food related industries and services, and introduction of regular food safety training for the ministry’s inspectors and workers in the private health and food sectors.
Abu Faour emphasized what he called the “bewildering” extent of corruption he has discovered in the food business.
“I was completely stunned by the size of the corruption. It seems that corruption is the rule in this country, whereas reform and anti-corruption bids is the exception,” he said, stressing, however, that “when there is a political will, it is possible to break the (vicious) circle of corruption.”
Abu Faour also listed his ministry’s main accomplishments including, the launch of the Lebanese food safety guidelines, the closure of Beirut’s slaughterhouse pending its rehabilitation, the closure of unlicensed food establishments, the escalation of the ministry’s food inspection raids, and the reduction of the price of 261 types of medicines by 17 percent and 629 other drugs by 20 percent.
The list also included upgrading hospital classification criteria to ensure better services, improving automated auditing of hospital bills and introducing the ministry’s coverage on prostheses.
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