The Ministry of Health in the Government of National Accord provided a delivery of medical devices and equipment to the Khoms General Hospital on Thursday after completing the ministry’s Department of Medical Equipment and Supplies’ inspection.
The department said the new equipment conform to the specifications of the Ministry of Health.
The delivery contains CT scan, C-ARM machine, six liquid suction devices, an electric cauterizing machine, and an anesthesia machine.
It comes in the framework of the Health Ministry’s plan to develop the health sector services in different cities and regions of the country.
Many Libyan health care providers fled the country after the collapse of the Qaddafi regime in 2011, crippling a health care system that still largely relies on foreign aid. While urban areas benefit from a high concentration of medical personnel, hospitals, and clinics in rural regions are chronically short staffed.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Libyan hospitals are in need of roughly 5,000 nurses, 3,500 specialists and 400 midwives.
Moreover, the ongoing fighting in Tripoli continues to prevent medical supply shipments from reaching parts of the city.
With chronic medicine, supply, and personnel shortages, public health efforts are almost non-existent.
Roughly 75% of Libya’s public health facilities have shut down, while those remaining are functioning at a fraction of regular capacity.
In February, the WHO issued a request for $43 million to provide basic yet life-saving treatment to nearly 388,000 Libyans in need.
