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[00:00.04]Heart drugs and all kinds of other medicines
[00:05.12]have disappeared from drug stores across Lebanon.
[00:09.72]The drug shortage is the latest
[00:13.00]in a series of problems in the country,
[00:16.20]which was once a center for medical services,
[00:20.00]banking and real estate.
[00:23.48]Rita Harb works as a nurse at a hospital in Beirut, the capital.
[00:30.04]She cannot find heart drugs for her 85-year-old grandfather.
[00:36.20]She has searched Lebanese drug stores and called friends overseas.
[00:42.44]Not even doctors she knew could get the drugs
[00:46.36]from pharmacies or other providers.
[00:49.84]Harb's story is becoming increasingly common in Lebanon.
[00:55.28]Officials and pharmacists say the drug shortage was made worse
[01:01.28]by panic buying and hoarding
[01:04.20]after an announcement by the country's Central Bank governor.
[01:09.16]He said that with the supply of foreign money running low,
[01:14.28]the government would not be able to keep up subsidies,
[01:18.64]including subsidies on drugs.
[01:21.76]That announcement "caused a storm, an earthquake,"
[01:25.96]said Ghassan al-Amin,
[01:28.52]head of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon.
[01:33.20]Many Lebanese now search the country and beyond
[01:37.68]for necessary drugs.
[01:40.08]Older adults ask religious organizations
[01:44.60]and aid groups for help.
[01:47.00]In the country's economic crisis,
[01:50.16]more than half the population has been pushed into poverty.
[01:54.96]Lebanon's money has lost nearly 80 percent of its value.
[02:00.84]People's savings also have dropped in value.
[02:05.08]Lebanon imports nearly everything,
[02:08.08]including 85 percent of its drugs.
[02:12.16]Lifting subsidies is a likely step for the government.
[02:17.44]This is expected to increase prices and inflation.
[02:22.60]Fixed at 1,500 to the U.S. dollar for many years,
[02:28.72]the Lebanese pound is now worth around
[02:32.20]7,000 for $1 on the black market.
[02:36.80]The difference between the official
[02:39.44]and black-market dollar rate has fueled smuggling.
[02:43.92]In other words, subsidized Lebanese drugs
[02:48.56]were secretly taken to neighboring countries.
[02:52.24]In the chaos, six out of every 10 brand drugs
[02:57.36]have become unavailable, notes Malak Khiami,
[03:01.76]the pharmacist at Amel Association, an aid group.
[03:06.80]For years, around 20 importers have controlled Lebanon's drug market.
[03:13.56]Lebanese law awards rights to some drug importers,
[03:18.72]giving them power to resist reforms and keep out competitors.
[03:24.52]The import rights are part of Lebanon's economic order,
[03:29.56]which after the civil war's end became controlled
[03:33.72]by militia chiefs, wealthy traders and real estate owners.
[03:39.12]As that economic order falls apart,
[03:43.08]the market for foreign drugs will likely become smaller,
[03:47.16]says Viviane Akiki, an economic reporter.
[03:51.76]"The dollar shortage will impose new solutions."
[03:56.12]In the Zoukaq al-Blat neighborhood of Beirut,
[04:00.68]Mahmoud Mahmoud's pharmacy was quiet.
[04:04.56]Except for painkillers and other products,
[04:08.24]the store's shelves were empty.
[04:10.76]Mahmoud believes suppliers are holding back drugs
[04:15.32]because they are waiting for higher prices
[04:18.72]— or smuggling them out of the country.
[04:21.80]One gout drug, he said, was found in Iraq,
[04:26.56]selling for $7, more than five times its price in Lebanon.
[04:32.88]"They are destroying the profession," said Mahmoud.
[04:36.60]"With the way the country is going,
[04:39.20]the profession is collapsing."
[04:41.72]I'm John Russell.
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Words in This Storyreal estate – n. property such as land or buildings
nurse – n. a medical worker
panic – n. a state or feeling of extreme fear that makes someone unable to act or think normally
hoard – v. to collect and hide a large amount of (something valuable)
subsidy – n. money that the government pays to keep prices low; financial assistance
black market – n. a system through which things are bought and sold illegally
chaos – n. complete disorder
shelf – n. a flat object that provides a surface for storing objects on which objects can be placed
gout – n. a disease that causes painful enlargement of the joints, especially in the toes
profession – n. occupation; job