Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, issued a decision to relieve Deputy Prime Minister Ramadan Abu Janah from his duties overseeing the Ministry of Health and referred him, along with several ministry officials, for investigation over violations related to importing medicines outside the authority of the National Cancer Control Authority.
The decision also included the precautionary suspension of several ministry officials and their referral for administrative investigation for breaching the jurisdiction assigned to the National Cancer Control Authority in relation to the medical shipment.
Those suspended alongside Abu Janah include: Deputy Health Minister Tawfiq Idris, Director of the Pharmacy Department Nadia Abu Suba’, Head of the Registration Division at the Pharmacy Department Nahed Al-Makki, Head of the Local Tender Committee Akram Al-Fazzani, and Director of the Nursing Department Fatima Al-Wafi.
Recently, the issue sparked wide controversy on social media after Iraq’s Ministry of Health announced it had delivered the first locally-produced shipment of cancer medications to Libya. However, the National Cancer Control Authority denied in a statement that it had imported any medication from Iraq or any Arab or Asian country, stressing that all approved drugs are exclusively sourced from certified American and European suppliers in accordance with the highest international standards.
The Ministry of Health of the Government of National Unity issued a statement on Tuesday confirming it had imported a shipment of cancer treatment drugs from Iraq outside the framework of the public tender, with the approval of the Administrative Control Authority, following what it described as “a series of lengthy procedures and strict oversight.”
