After 30 Years: Revival of Lebanon's Drug Quality Lab

Minister of Public Health Rakan Nasser Al-Din inaugurated the Quality Experts Forum organized by the Ministry of Public Health on the occasion of World Quality Day 2026, under the slogan "Quality is the Driver of Performance." The event was attended by Rita Freijeh, Coordinator for Accreditation and Quality at the Ministry, along with quality managers and specialists from across Lebanon to discuss current challenges, strategic priorities, and future trends in healthcare quality. Participants focused their interventions on "the importance of quality and patient safety, and moving forward on the accreditation path which remains non-mandatory," noting "the necessity for this path to evolve so that it becomes mandatory as soon as possible."

Nasser Al-Din affirmed that "the decisive decision taken since assuming office is to prioritize quality in health services and care despite budget limitations," explaining that "the Ministry has completed a series of bold steps to maintain drug quality, most notably:

First, updating guidelines and standards (Guidelines) to ensure every drug entering Lebanon is evaluated according to World Health Organization standards.

Second, signing a contract yesterday with the Lebanese University to establish a central reference drug laboratory, after being closed for more than thirty years, to be opened in the near future for testing drug quality and efficacy.

Third, taking decisions to freeze certain pharmaceutical items for study and evaluation according to approved standards".

He stressed that "the methodology based on prioritizing quality in the pharmaceutical sector is also adopted in the hospital sector," pointing out "several steps achieved in this framework, including improving hospital coverage according to priorities and needs, and coordinating the distribution of surgeries among government and university hospitals so that each hospital performs within its capabilities. This allowed covering complex surgeries in university hospitals such as bone marrow transplants and cochlear implants, and scoliosis surgeries will soon be launched."

Nasser Al-Din noted that "Lebanon's needs in terms of health coverage are estimated at around one billion dollars, while the available ministry budget does not exceed 300 million dollars, necessitating work within available resources without compromising service quality."

In this context, he pointed to "strengthening oversight and developing management by increasing the number of supervising doctors, modifying their distribution mechanism and adopting rotation among them, alongside updating the basic work system and applying quality standards in monitoring medical performance, allowing the maintenance of hospital service quality within budget limits." He emphasized "the importance of accreditation and classification according to international standards," considering that "this path constitutes an essential element to guarantee service quality, even if it imposes additional burdens on hospitals and the Ministry."

He announced "the Ministry's readiness to cover the necessary costs for any government hospital deciding to engage in the accreditation and classification path," clarifying that "engagement in the accreditation path is optional and not mandatory," adding that "starting with an optional path indirectly paves the way for eventual mandatoriness."

He added: "The accreditation of one hospital will serve as an incentive for neighboring hospitals to follow suit, especially since accreditation encourages patients to choose hospitals that meet quality standards."

Nasser Al-Din indicated that "Lebanon still enjoys distinctive health services, particularly regarding ease of access to doctors and speed of emergency services, as well as the good reputation enjoyed by Lebanese doctors," noting that "people from several countries visit Lebanon for treatment, although the security situation constitutes a major obstacle for this sector."

He concluded: "We want to light a candle rather than curse the darkness," affirming that the Ministry "strives to do everything possible to improve health services."