Lebanon Faces High Risk of Epidemic Outbreaks: WHO
Destruction caused by Israeli bombing in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Oct. 8, 2024. X/ @Golover_Tu
October 8, 2024 Hour: 10:12 am
Emergency care and trauma services are becoming increasingly difficult to access for the population.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of the high risk of epidemic outbreaks among internally displaced people and the general population in Lebanon due to limited access to essential health services.
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“We are facing a situation where there is a much greater risk of disease outbreaks, such as acute diarrhea, hepatitis A, and various vaccine-preventable diseases,” said Ian Clarke, WHO Deputy Incident Manager for Lebanon.
He also mentioned that emergency care and trauma services for the injured are becoming increasingly difficult to access for the population.
This is happening in a context where the Lebanese healthcare system, already weakened by the massive exodus of its healthcare personnel over the past five years, lacks stable access to electricity and has limited supplies coming in.
“We also cannot ignore that Lebanon is the country with the highest number of refugees per capita. It is currently estimated that there are 1.5 million Syrian refugees and at least 11,000 refugees from other nationalities,” Clarke commented.
It is estimated that 25 percent of Lebanon’s 5.7 million inhabitants are refugees from other countries. These figures were estimated before the large-scale bombings by the Israeli state began.
In the current crisis, the WHO has supplied Lebanese authorities with 116 tons of medical materials, including supplies for 4,000 surgeries, cholera treatment, and medicines for 10,000 patients with mental health disorders.
“It’s impossible to meet the needs of more than a million people who have been suddenly uprooted, displaced and dispossessed without additional resources coming in. This was not a country that was well prepared because of all of the challenges that it’s faced over the past years,” said Matthew Hollingworth, World Food Program Country Director in Lebanon.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE – WFP
