“Yesterday was Joseph’s funeral. A few days ago, his condition suddenly deteriorated. He was taken to hospital but the doctors did not have enough medicines or equipment to save him. We, however, did not manage to find a place where he could receive specialised treatment…” breaks off Dr. Elias. We can hear him trying to finish the voice message for a while, but he is on the verge of tears and unable to say another word.

After a stroke he suffered a few years ago left Joseph bedridden forever, Dr Elias and his association “Adventure of Charity” made sure that he and his wife, who could barely afford to eat, did not lack the necessary medicines. In recent months, the doctor’s efforts in Lebanon, which is in the midst of the world’s biggest economic crisis, have turned into a daily fight for every blister pack of medicine he can get for his patients. A fight which, unfortunately, he sometimes loses. There is practically no medicine in the whole country.

“If only the situation in our hospitals had been different, if only the right medication had been in place, Joseph would be alive. His condition needed to be stabilised but there was a complete collapse. Without medication, the doctors were helpless.” Dr Elias wrote to us the next day.

Today, in Lebanon, which for decades was the medical capital of the Middle East, even such a simple medical measure as raising a patient’s blood pressure is becoming an undertaking on the scale of a heart transplant. Patients are dying because hospitals are short not only of specialised medicines, but also of the most basic ones: anaesthetics, antibiotics and heart medicines. Cancer-fighting medications have already been unavailable in the country for months. Doctors and nurses are faced with a desperate decision as to which patients they should or shouldn’t treat.

Georges, whom we introduced to you earlier, has also been in hospital for several days. His heart arrhythmia has recently gotten worse. Fortunately, the hospital he was admitted to has recently received a supply of donated medicines and the doctors have managed to stabilise his heart. Will there be enough for another day of treatment? Nobody knows.

“I thank God every day for your hearts! So many people in our care, elderly people living on the poverty line, suffer from serious, chronic illnesses. They need to take medication on a regular basis. Without them, without your help, their condition would have deteriorated long ago, and it is so difficult to rely on hospitals in the current situation,” concludes Dr Elias.

Thank you so much for the fact that together we can help the most vulnerable in a place where the lives of so many people have been completely turned upside down. Where just two years ago people were living a relatively good life, at a level comparable to that in Poland, and today almost 80% of the population is struggling with poverty, fearing for their future, their health and their loved ones. Thanks to you, Dr. Elias’s 260 patients have been able to breathe a sigh of relief for 3 months now, knowing that every month they will get the medicines they need to live!

Come and do some charity shopping with us! We sincerely urge you to do so today! Help us fill Christmas bags with medicines needed by those in Dr. Elias’s care. A symbolic pack of paracetamol, antibiotics or diabetic medicine is enough. It will be the best Christmas gift for them, as it is one that SAVES LIVES. Let’s do everything we can to make sure that this is not their last Christmas!