Libya's healthcare crisis has a sad, new face. It is that of a tired 7-year-old girl, Sohan Aboulsoud, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, an inherited genetic disorder. Her family couldn't get treatment for Sohan in Libya so they decided to dare the oft-deadly, illicit journey by boat to Italy in search of help on June 25.

When Sohan's mother, Khawla Nail, shared the photo of her exhausted daughter on a smuggler's boat online, it went viral on social media and was picked up by a number of media outlets.

A day later, dozens of families with children who also suffer from cystic fibrosis protested in the Libyan city of Tripoli. They demanded access to medication and the creation of diagnostic centers in Libya. The lack of such services threatens lives, they said.

Since the overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been stuck in political chaos. Since 2014, Libya has been split in two, with opposing governments located in the east and west of the country. A UN-backed administration known as the Government of National Unity, or GNU, is based in Tripoli in the west — where Sohan's family is from. Its rival, known as the House of Representatives, is based in the east, in Tobruk. At various times over........

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