October 11, 2026
An expanded health and social meeting was held at the “Layalina” restaurant in the Ras al-Ayn area of Baalbek, to discuss the health and development needs of the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, with the participation of the Minister of Health, Rakan Nasser al-Din, and Labor Mohamed Haidar, the Chairman and members of the Parliamentary Health and Labor Committee, the Chairman and members of the Board of Directors of the National Social Security Fund and its General Director, in addition to representatives and activists of the health sector in the region.
At the beginning of the interventions, MP Ghazi Zuaiter touched on the suffering and state of deprivation that the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate is suffering from, reviewing a number of vital demands, most notably the Dahr al-Baydar Tunnel Project, the Orontes Dam, refining stations, and removing pollution from the course of the Litani River.
For his part, Representative Ali Al-Miqdad considered in his speech that “had it not been for the sacrifices of the martyrs and the resistance, and had it not been for the presence of the resistance in Lebanon, Lebanon would have been an Israeli colony.”
In turn, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Representative Bilal Abdullah, placed the health card file at the top of priorities, stressing that “the time has come for the Lebanese citizen to have a health card, so that the citizen does not remain humiliated at the doors of hospitals.”
On the governmental side, Minister of Health Rakan Nasser al-Din announced that the budget of the Ministry of Health amounted to $350 million, stressing that it will be distributed equally to the various Lebanese regions, in addition to securing the necessary financial funds to establish the government hospital in the town of Harbta.
For his part, Minister of Labor Muhammad Haider confirmed that the main goal of the meeting is to listen directly to the problems of the region, adding: “We are here to hear all the problems that this region suffers from, and it is our duty to provide the citizen with all the medical needs, especially among the workers.”
This meeting comes in the context of ongoing efforts to present the health, social and development files of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate to the official authorities and relevant ministries, with a special focus on approving the health card, improving hospital services, activating the role of social security, and implementing urgent development projects requested by representatives of the region.
