Health entrepreneurship in Lebanon

by Charlie Darwich-Houssami, Samir Sleem and Laya  -- executive-magazine.com -- When it comes to health, Lebanon is one of the leading countries in the Arab world in terms of the quality of healthcare provided and in testing new medical technologies. The country now has the opportunity to lead the way in entrepreneurship via healthcare startups. Executive spoke with entrepreneurs in this field to see what challenges they faced and what obstacles still need to be overcome to find success as a healthcare startup. According to a 2016 Wamda Capital’s report on health startups, MENA is growing its first generation of health entrepreneurs, which means that the region is witnessing the first business and economic wave of an industry that is likely to expand and unveil a vast range of entrepreneurial opportunities. Meanwhile, worldwide information technology solutions for healthcare are entering their third wave. As consulting firm McKinsey & Company pointed out in a 2014 paper on the digital future of healthcare, the first two waves of IT brought computation of data and statistics to healthcare institutions in the 1950s and helped with integrating processes among healthcare organizations in the 1970s. Compared with these advancements, the third wave of digitization is seen as having incomparably greater implications, from robotic surgery and remote diagnosis to mobile healthcare via digital apps.

Given the huge social and economic implications of the full digitization of healthcare and wellness, any entrepreneurial ecosystem should be priming itself to nurture startups related to healthcare. This applies in Lebanon as much as anywhere, but local healthcare startups who spoke to Executive report experiencing the same frustrations felt by other startups in the Lebanese ecosystem, such as the difficulty of attracting funding and the lack of local talent. Among local startups, diabetes digital monitor Weglo is still in its first development stage. Spike, a software application that helps and guides diabetes patients with their everyday treatments, and TrakMd, an online platform that helps patients find, book, and review doctors around Lebanon, have already progressed beyond the launch phase and are currently operating in a full commercial form. While the entrepreneurs that spoke to Executive cite similar difficulties to those encountered by emerging healthcare startups worldwide, they also raised issues unique to the Lebanese market, and opined that the economic situation in Lebanon negatively affects startups due to the dearth of appropriate resources and professionals within the field.

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Lebanese singer Elissa announces she has fought breast cancer through new video

by gulfnews.com -- Lebanese singer Elissa announces she has fought breast cancer through new video The video clip showed Elissa’s journey fighting cancer Dubai: Fans around the Arab world were shocked today, as they were waiting for their favourite singer to release a video clip from her summer Album - instead she revealed she was fighting breast cancer. Elissa revealed her video clip in a tweet. “You are the reason I am strong and healthy… you are my strength. And this story is a thank you “For all those who love me”” and along came her video clip. “A reality music video beyond reality,” Tareck Karam, a famous Lebanese producer, tweeted after watching it.

The video clip begins with a women inside an MRI machine with the date December 26, 2017 and a subtitle ‘you have cancer.’ You would think this is a normal video clip of a cancer patient, but you’re shocked after hearing Elissa, talking in what seemed like a real phone call. Describing her pain, her shock, her black thoughts, hiding her weakness, and her treatments. “You know that moment when you wonder… Will I ever see the people I love again? Those who love me back…… Is that moment, when it’s all over here? You won’t exist tomorrow?” You can hear her sobs, feel her fear and agony. “I go to radiotherapy, then I enter the studio. I finish another session, rest for two hours and to the studio again. Once a week also I was shooting a live show. It’s not me who I felt sorry for. Angy, I felt sorry for the people I loved and this song is for the people we really love and don’t want to leave behind.”

Angy is a famous film producer and a friend of Ellisa, who produced the video clip and confirmed that these were real voice notes sent to her by Elissa. “She calls me one day and said: I want to tell my story... she sent me all these voice notes that you heard in the clip... not knowing that I will find in them the best way to reflect her state of mind... her unbelievable story of illness, pain, and survival! “ Nidlal Alahmadieh, a Lebanese journalist, tweeted to Ellissa instantly: “The smartest Arab music video, the most moral and the most courageous.. This is the message of a respectable artist.”

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Saudi Arabia expels Canadian ambassador over criticism

by Jon Gambrell   Associated Press -- Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador on Monday and froze "all new business" with Ottawa over its criticism of the ultraconservative kingdom's arrest of women's rights activists — yet another warning to the West reflecting Riyadh's newly assertive foreign policy. The sudden and unexpected dispute bore the hallmarks of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's 32-year-old future leader, whose recent foreign policy exploits include the war in Yemen, the boycott of Qatar and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's surprise resignation broadcast during a visit to the kingdom. Hariri later rescinded the resignation, widely believed to be orchestrated by Riyadh, and returned to Beirut. Analysts say the dispute between Riyadh and Ottawa shows Saudi Arabia won't accept any outside criticism and will continue flexing its muscles abroad, especially as the kingdom enjoys a closer relationship with President Donald Trump. "This message is obviously not just being sent to Ottawa," said Giorgio Cafiero, the CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington-based risk consultancy. "It's a message to countries across Europe and across the rest of the world that criticism of Saudi Arabia . has consequences."

The Saudi Foreign Ministry made the announcement early Monday, giving Ambassador Dennis Horak 24 hours to leave the kingdom. It wasn't immediately clear if he was in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia said it would recall its ambassador to Canada as well. "Any further step from the Canadian side in that direction will be considered as acknowledgment of our right to interfere in Canadian domestic affairs," the Foreign Ministry said. "Canada and all other nations need to know that they can't claim to be more concerned than the kingdom over its own citizens." Saudi state television later reported that the Education Ministry was coming up with an "urgent plan" to move thousands of Saudi scholarship students out of Canadian schools to take classes in other countries. Meanwhile, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates publicly backed Saudi Arabia in the dispute. Marie-Pier Baril, a spokeswoman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, said Canada was "seriously concerned" by Saudi Arabia's actions. "Canada will always stand up for the protection of human rights, very much including women's rights, and freedom of expression around the world," she said in a statement. "Our government will never hesitate to promote these values and believes that this dialogue is critical to international diplomacy."

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Riad Salameh urges fiscal reforms to reinforce monetary stability

by Reuters --- Lebanon's pound is stable and the central bank has the means to defend its stability, central bank governor Riad Salameh said on Monday, urging fiscal reforms to reinforce monetary stability. Salameh, in an interview with Reuters, said the central bank was not concerned about the pound - pegged at its current level since 1997 - despite "a lot of rumors". "We are looking at stability on the monetary side and that stability will be reinforced if the reforms are initiated in order to bring down the budget deficit," said Salameh, who has been in the job for 25 years. Lebanon has the third largest debt-to-GDP ratio in the world, touching more than 150 percent at the end of 2017, according to the International Monetary Fund. The IMF said in June Lebanon was in need of "an immediate and substantial fiscal adjustment" to improve debt sustainability. Following an election in May, donor states are hoping for a new government that will bring down the deficit. But while Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri has vowed to implement reforms, talks on forming a new unity government have hit an impasse. Politicians have warned Lebanon faces an economic crisis. Salameh said it was not true that Lebanon was heading for a financial crisis, adding that there were rumours which aimed "to create fear" and "decrease confidence in stability". "I don't know who is behind them."

"CRITICAL ROLE"

The central bank's foreign assets stand at more than $44 billion, up from $42 billion at the end of 2017. Bank deposits are expected to go up by between 4 percent and 5 percent this year, which Salameh called "acceptable for Lebanon". Remittances, a pillar of the economy, are stable. Non-performing loans were also at a stable 3.5 percent, he said. Salameh said last month he expected bank lending to fall by 1.6 percent in 2018 on last year. "If there is a slowdown, it is related to lower growth in the economy and not to liquidity," he said. The IMF has estimated economic growth of 1-1.5 percent in 2017 and 2018. In a June statement, the IMF Executive Board said the traditional drivers of growth in Lebanon - real estate and construction - were weak and a strong rebound unlikely soon. The central bank has forecast 2 percent growth this year. The IMF board commended the central bank for its "critical role in attracting deposit inflows and effectively managing the difficult situation". Asked about the interest rate outlook, Salameh said current rates were "proper" and still provided depositors with a return after an inflation rate of around 5 percent for the year was taken into account. Private sector banks were offering higher yields to increase their deposits in Lebanese pounds, he said. In May, the government completed a $5.5 billion debt swap with the central bank, issuing Eurobonds to the central bank in exchange for Lebanese pound T Bills. Asked if there were plans for a further swap, Salameh said: "No we don't have this intention because our balance of payments is behaving relatively well. We would have hoped for more surplus. We have a slight deficit, but not to the extent that warrants a new swap operation." (Editing by Robin Pomeroy) (This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Shepherds without borders: Israel’s war with Lebanese herders

by theguardian.com -- Richard Hall and Oliver Holmes In most places around the world, a shepherd’s work is a quiet and solitary business. But in the rolling borderlands of southern Lebanon, a wandering sheep can lead to a diplomatic incident or worse. In the years since Israel’s withdrawal from most of Lebanon in 2000, a game of cat and mouse has been played out on the frontier between the two countries, which are still technically at war. The game pits a regional military superpower against farmers and goatherds for whom detention is an occupational hazard. The secret networks saving Lebanon's migrant maids from abuse Read more “These incidents have happened an uncountable number of times,” said Gen Elias Kanso, a spokesman for the Lebanese army. “Sometimes the shepherd is kidnapped and other times the sheep or goats. It happened just yesterday.”

In the past two weeks alone at least two Lebanese citizens have narrowly escaped being caught by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Lebanon’s state news agency reported last Tuesday that a “hostile Israeli infantry force crossed the border line”, firing several smoke grenades in an attempt to apprehend a shepherd. The last successful captures were in May, when a shepherd and a civilian were detained days apart. As is usually the case, they were released a short time later after questioning. Part of the reason for this back-and-forth is that no official border exists between Lebanon and Israel, only a UN-mandated line of withdrawal known as the blue line.

Lebanese shepherds who traverse this ambiguous terrain with their livestock often unknowingly cross the poorly marked, unfenced line. Over the past year the UN peacekeeping force that patrols the area has documented more than 800 violations of the blue line by shepherds and farmers. “I’ve seen some of them myself. You’ll see the sheep go across the other side and he has to get them back,” said Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil). “The areas with good grazing are along the blue line, where the markings aren’t very well defined. It’s of course part of the shepherd’s daily routine. It’s always been like that.” At other times, the Israeli army crosses the boundary to seize a herder. The Lebanese army sees the captures as a concern, but one that can be contained. Officials say the near daily violations of Lebanese airspace by Israeli jets is of far more importance. The IDF did not respond to a request for comment. It regularly detains those who cross the blue line on suspicion of being spies for Hezbollah. Lt Col Sarit Zehavi, who previously worked for the IDF specialising in military intelligence, said the Lebanese shepherds were “part of the view”.

Asked whether she believed some of the shepherds were Hezbollah members on intelligence-gathering missions, she said: “What I can say is that there are shepherds. But in some of the cases, they are not only shepherds.” Tenenti said there was no clear evidence for the assertion. “They claim this, but all these crossings have been properly investigated by the mission,” he said. Because the Lebanese army has no direct communication with Israel, Unifil’s peacekeepers act as the go-between to have the shepherds returned. “We get in touch with the Israeli side very quickly and ask them to release them,” Tenenti said. “In most cases, the shepherds get questioned and are released the following day or the same day.” These skirmishes can attain folktale status. Israeli troops made an attempt to detain Samer Salam Diab, 38, in the village of Kfarchouba in 2015, but were thwarted when the man’s dog reportedly attacked the soldiers. Locals held protests outside Unifil’s office in the village the following year after Israeli forces returned more than 134 goats “in a bad condition” following a brief detention, according to Lebanese state news. The altercations may appear trivial, but deadly clashes have erupted between the two countries over minor infractions. The cutting down of a tree whose branches had overhung a fence along the demarcation line sparked a confrontation in 2010 in which five people were killed. “In this area, issues that may not be considered a big deal in other parts of the world can become a big issue,” Tenenti said. Aside from a few isolated incidents, the border has been largely peaceful in recent years. Both sides are keen to avoid a repeat of the devastating 2006 conflict, sparked by a cross-border raid by Hezbollah. Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Lebanon, and much of the south of the country was destroyed by bombing. On the Israeli side, 158 people were killed, most of them soldiers. “We are not worried about it getting out of control,” Kanso said of the shepherds’ scuffles with the IDF. “We always manage to get them back.”

In Lebanon, volunteers speak up to battle suicide

by AFP - Her trainers beating down on the pavement along Beirut’s seafront, Nour Safieddine, 24, cuts past strollers ambling in the evening sun. In her bright pink T-shirt, she is running to survive. “I run to carry on, so life can smile at me even if it made me cry – or in fact, not to die after the thought of suicide crept into my head,” the journalist and graduate student wrote recently. In Lebanon, mental health and suicide have long been deeply taboo subjects. But one in three adults in Lebanon will develop a mental disorder by the age of 75, a 2008 study found. The small Mediterranean country has been rocked by decades of war, and weathered endless political crises in recent years as it fights to stave off an economic meltdown. To shake the mould and help save lives, Lebanese like Safieddine are speaking up. The sudden deaths of her sister and father around one year ago sent her into crippling depression, but running has helped pull her out. In May, she bravely shared her own struggle with depression in a public social media post. “I decided I had to give positive energy to these people and remind them that life is worth living and that they deserve to live,” the tall, lean athlete told AFP. She was surprised by the positive response. “I felt like my experience was the experience of many people who hadn’t dared to speak up about what they were going through,” she said. The issue has been getting a wave of attention in Lebanon in recent weeks amid concern over rising suicides.

The first seven months of this year alone have seen 89 suicides in Lebanon, compared with 143 for all of 2017, according to Lebanon’s security forces. This year’s rate amounts to roughly one suicide every two-and-a-half days, but social norms in Lebanon may mean suicides are underreported. “You have families who said, because of stigma, that he fell,” said Nour Kik, of the health ministry’s mental health programme. To fight rising numbers, a group of mental health professionals and volunteers launched h Lebanon’s first suicide prevention hotline in late 2017.

The Embrace Lifeline has received around 600 calls since November, said Omar Ghosn, a psychiatrist and board member of the Embrace association behind it. In a small, bright office in downtown Beirut, around 45 volunteers work in shifts to receive phone calls from people in distress, but also worried relatives or friends. “Callers are women and men of all ages,” but teenagers especially rely on the service, said Sally, who like other hotline volunteers did not give her second name. “I’ve had a lot of calls from elderly men,” said the 22-year-old psychology student. Without work or a pension, “most call upset because they’re struggling to provide themselves with food, drink – or even a home”. But vulnerable groups in Lebanon also include around 1mn Syrian refugees who fled the seven-year war in their neighbouring homeland. A 2014 World Health Organisation report found that 41% of Syrian youth in Lebanon have sometimes or often contemplated suicide. Fadi, a 37-year-old Syrian volunteer at the hotline, said he often feels callers have never had anyone empathise with them. He talks them through their problems, trying to highlight their achievements, he said. Though “sometimes, they just need someone to listen to them cry”. Fadi is determined to speak out, especially after witnessing a crowd egg on a suicidal man threatening to throw himself off a Beirut cliff in April.