Medical tourism drains the health system in war-ravaged Libya

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Hospitals are neglected as patients are subsidized for treatment abroad. smh.com.au – A multimillion-dollar medical tourism industry catering to Libyans has emerged in neighboring countries, stripping the country’s struggling health system of vital investment and blocking efforts to rebuild a sector rife with corruption. Nowhere is the extent of Libya’s crumbling infrastructure more apparent than in its health system. Hospitals are poorly staffed, many have endured long periods of unfinished construction, and medical equipment is outdated or sits unused because staff do not have the expertise to operate it. As a result, Libyans’ faith in their health system is dangerously low, undermined by the government spending millions to send people overseas for even the simplest treatment.

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