Child Dies from Meningitis after Northern Hospitals Refuse to Treat Him
Two years-old Momen Khaled al-Mohammed died on Tuesday from Meningitis after several Tripoli and northern hospitals refused to treat him because his family could not afford the cost of the care, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.
"The child's parents went from one hospital to another but they were turned down for not being able to bear the cost of the treatment,” the NNA explained.
Momen, who hails from Borj al-Arab town in the northern city of Akkar, was buried on Tuesday afternoon.
During the funeral, the head of the town's municipality Aref Shokheidem urged the Ministry of Public Health to “launch a probe to look into the northern hospitals' rejection to admit Momen”.
"People in charge of these hospitals lack humanitarian values,” he expressed.
This incidence comes after Health Minister Ali Hasan Khalil announced on Monday that hospitals will stop treating patients at the ministry's cost because “efforts to issue a decree in this regard could not be reached”.
On Tuesday, however, Khalil stated that the ministry will resume covering these expenses, calling for “assigning financial limits and a budget for hospitalization at the MOPH”.
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