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Prices for life-saving medication skyrocketed in Lebanon on Tuesday after the Ministry of Public Health began lifting most drug subsidies, which the cash-strapped state can no longer afford.Health Minister Firass Abiad had announced last Tuesday a plan to gradually lift subsidies on certain types of medication including those used to treat heart disease, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, causing drug prices to increase by as much as five or six times their original cost. The ministry issued a new price list on Monday afternoon that was put in place on Tuesday for the first time, pharmacists say. A packet of baby formula that lasts three days used to cost 12,000 Lebanese pounds ($0.50 at the market rate) is now priced at 98,000 pounds ($4.20). But medicines for cancer, incurable diseases, mental and psychological diseases, and drugs used in hospitals have retained their subsidies, a representative for the health ministry told The National. The Lebanese state spends $35 million on medical subsidies each month, down from $130 million prior to subsidy cuts, Mr Abiad said last week. The ministry will maintain a 65 per cent subsidy rate on expensive medicines for chronic diseases, while cheaper, generic products will receive less state support, the minister said. Only wealthy customers, however, will be able to afford the new prices, said Noura, a pharmacist employed at Wardieh Pharmacy in Beirut. The country imports 80 per cent of its drugs in foreign currencies, which the central bank lacks, causing payment delays and shortages.