TRIPOLI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it has provided Libya with anti-Leishmania medicines.
"Recently, WHO in cooperation with NCDC (National Center for Disease Control) in Libya delivered more than 4000 ampoules of anti-Leishmania treatment enough to treat referred patients till the end of 2019," the WHO said in a tweet.
Leishmaniasis is an epidemic that spreads particularly in the Libyan cities of Bani Walid, Tawergha and Sirte, with new infections reported each year.
The UN health agency estimates that there are 700,000 to 1 million new cases and 20,000 to 30,000 deaths annually.
The ongoing armed conflict in and around the Libyan capital Tripoli between the UN-backed government and the eastern-based army has badly affected the public healthcare services in the country.
The WHO said in a report in September that healthcare is the "biggest need in Libya with many people lacking sustained access to primary and secondary health services including management of chronic and infectious diseases and obstetric complications."
Due to the armed conflict, Libyan authorities have been struggling to provide proper healthcare services, forcing Libyan patients to pay huge amounts of money to purchase live-saving medicines.
