Aya (16 months) has a progressive degenerative condition that is slowly paralysing her. Her parents have to buy the drugs that treat her on the black market and the hospital is not able to afford the genetic test that would accurately identify her disease. 'The future is not good for her', said her doctor Imad Chokr, Head of the Paediatric Unit at Rafic Hariri hospital.

Following political collapse and the pandemic, the Lebanese economy plunged, wiping out 90% of people's savings and resulting in massive inflation. The ammonium nitrate explosion in August 2020 killed over 200 people and accelerated the country's economic collapse. The impact on the struggling healthcare system has been disastrous.