After Medicine Shortage, Lebanese Now Scramble to Find Baby Milk

Pharmacist Siham Itani wearing a protective mask looks at her mobile phone inside her pharmacy in Beirut, Oct. 6, 2020. (Reuters)
Pharmacist Siham Itani wearing a protective mask looks at her mobile phone inside her pharmacy in Beirut, Oct. 6, 2020. (Reuters)
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After Medicine Shortage, Lebanese Now Scramble to Find Baby Milk

Pharmacist Siham Itani wearing a protective mask looks at her mobile phone inside her pharmacy in Beirut, Oct. 6, 2020. (Reuters)
Pharmacist Siham Itani wearing a protective mask looks at her mobile phone inside her pharmacy in Beirut, Oct. 6, 2020. (Reuters)

The sight of empty shelves in the majority of pharmacies throughout Lebanon demonstrates the extent of the crisis the country’s health sector is enduring.

Pharmacies have been suffering from the drop in the value of the local currency and the people’s hording of medicine before the state stops subsidizing them, which would lead to their prices increasing a whopping six-fold.

The hording continued in spite of assurances from the health minister and parliamentary health committee that the subsidies will not be lifted. They explained that the prices of medicine to treat chronic diseases will remain the same, while over the counter drugs and others that need a prescription will increase by 2.5 their original price and based on the Central Bank exchange rate of 3,900 pounds to the dollar.

The Lebanese have stocked up on medicine that they need and those that they don’t need, making them among the main reason for the drop in supplies.

“There are more medicines at homes than at our warehouses,” said head of the Pharmacists Syndicate, Ghassan al-Amin.

Head of Pharmaceuticals Importers Association, Karim Jebara said that within 15 days, some 200,000 boxes of aspirin and 250,000 boxes of its substitute, Aspicot, were imported. They are now practically out of stock in pharmacies.

The medicine shortage has even affected supplies of baby milk, which is exclusively sold at pharmacies.

One pharmacy owner said a real crisis is unfolding because the people are hording the milk at home, fearing a shortage in supplies and hike in price.

A pediatrician told Asharq Al-Awsat that the milk that is in short supply is primarily given to one-year-olds and above. This product is unsubsidized and is likely being stored by pharmacies so that they can sell it at increased prices once the health ministry announces a new price list.

One father revealed that he had purchased 70 boxes of baby milk for his newborn child. Now, however, he has been confronted with a shortage in baby food, which the infant should take when he reaches the age of six months.

“I even offered one pharmacy some of the boxes I had bought in exchange for some of the baby food, but the told me that they are out,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity.

Amin told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Lebanese people can rest easy whenever they have stocks of medicine at their homes, blaming the Central Bank’s announcement that it will lift subsidies for sparking the panic-buying among the population.

The solution lies in the prime minister-designate and Central Bank governor declaring frankly to the people that medicine supplies will be kept away from political tensions, he suggested.

Jebara said the lack of trust between the people and state has led to the panic-buying. He urged the Central Bank to declare that it has enough funds to continue to subsidize medicine until the end of 2021 so the people can be at ease.



Where Do Trade Talks Stand in the Rush to Avert Higher US Tariffs?

FILE PHOTO: A container is loaded onto a cargo ship while docked at Hai Phong port, after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries, in Hai Phong, Vietnam, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A container is loaded onto a cargo ship while docked at Hai Phong port, after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries, in Hai Phong, Vietnam, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo/File Photo
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Where Do Trade Talks Stand in the Rush to Avert Higher US Tariffs?

FILE PHOTO: A container is loaded onto a cargo ship while docked at Hai Phong port, after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries, in Hai Phong, Vietnam, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A container is loaded onto a cargo ship while docked at Hai Phong port, after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries, in Hai Phong, Vietnam, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo/File Photo

As a Wednesday deadline approaches for steeper US tariffs to hit dozens of economies ranging from the EU to India, trade negotiations with President Donald Trump's administration are coming down to the wire.

The levies taking effect July 9 were announced in April, with the White House citing a lack of "reciprocity" in trade relations. But they were swiftly halted, allowing room for talks.

Days before their reimposition, where do things stand?

EU: 'Ready' for deal

The European Union said it is "ready for a deal" with Washington, with the bloc's trade chief meeting his US counterparts Thursday.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was targeting an "agreement in principle" when it came to the July 9 cutoff, AFP reported.

With no deal, the US tariff on EU goods doubles from the "baseline" of 10 percent to 20 percent -- with Trump previously threatening a 50 percent level.

Vietnam: A pact with uncertainties

Washington and Hanoi unveiled a trade pact Wednesday with much fanfare and few details, but it allowed Vietnam to avoid Trump's initial 46 percent tariff.

Under the agreement, Vietnamese goods face a minimum 20 percent tariff while products made elsewhere face a 40 percent levy -- a clause to restrict "transshipping" by Chinese groups.

But there remain questions on how the higher levy would apply to products using foreign parts.

There is also a risk that Beijing will adopt retaliatory measures, analysts warned.

Japan: Rice, autos at stake

Despite being a close US ally and major source of foreign investment, Japan might not escape Trump's tariff hike.

Tokyo's trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa has made numerous trips to Washington through the end of June.

But Trump recently criticized what he described as Japan's reluctance to open up further to US rice and auto exports.

"I'm not sure we're going to make a deal," Trump said, adding that the country could pay a tariff of "30 percent, 35 percent, or whatever the number is that we determine."

India: A good position

Indian manufacturers and exporters want to believe they can avoid a 26 percent tariff.

Negotiations between both countries have been going well for weeks, and Trump himself suggested at the end of June that a "very big" agreement was imminent.

Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations, said the feedback he received "suggests positive developments." But he maintained that the situation was fluid.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stressed that agriculture and dairy products remain "very big red lines."

South Korea: Muted optimism

Seoul, which is already reeling from US tariffs on steel and autos, wants to avert a sweeping 25 percent levy on its other exports.

Cooperation in shipbuilding could be a bargaining chip, but "at this stage, both sides still haven't clearly defined what exactly they want," said new President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday.

"I can't say with confidence that we'll be able to wrap everything up by July 8," he added.

Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan in the wings

Other Asian economies including Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, which faces a 49 percent tariff, wait with bated breath.

Indonesia has indicated willingness to boost energy, agriculture and merchandise imports from the United States. Bangladesh meanwhile is proposing to buy Boeing planes and step up imports of US agriculture products.

Taiwan, for whom Washington is a vital security partner, faces a 32 percent duty without a pact.

Although both sides have faced bumps along the way, Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said "negotiators from both sides are working diligently" to find a path forward.

Switzerland: Hope for delay

Switzerland's government said Washington has acknowledged it was acting in good faith, and assumes its tariff level will remain at 10 percent on July 9 while negotiations continue.

But without a decision by the president as of the end of June, Switzerland did not rule out that levies could still rise to a promised 31 percent.