Lebanon's health sector in 'dire situation', needs urgent international aid: WHO chief

Lebanon’s enduring economic crisis risks reversing decades of gains in people’s wellbeing, WHO Chief said on Friday adding that international aid was urgently required to tackle the “dire situation”. Speaking during his visit to the middle eastern country, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the crisis in Lebanon’s health sector and said that there was a shortage of “basic and essential medicines”. Although WHO has been providing succour for the last 15 years, the top official called for an immediate” international support.

“It’s not just COVID, almost all services are being affected,” he said. “We visited two hospitals today… they told us that you know, they had, patients, cancer patients or other patients, but a shortage of medicines and those who cannot afford not having access to, they can’t have medicine, so meaning other services are being disrupted, and this is life, life, life and death,”the health chief added. 

Lebanon, at present, is battling multiple crises - a constant war with Israel, new coronavirus variants, political instability, and debt crisis -- all while trying to revive itself from the horrendous explosion that jolted Beirut in August last year. The current economic crisis in the country has thrown more people into poverty as tens of thousands have lost their jobs since anti-government protests first erupted in late 2019. As per the World Bank, the country’s economy contracted 19 per cent in 2020 and is expected to shrink again this year.

On Friday, Ghebreyesus asserted that fuel shortages have jeopardised the health sector and left hospitals functioning at 50 per cent capacity. Notably, on the same day, the Lebanese administration hiked fuel prices by almost 38 per cent to tackle gasoline shortages. Meanwhile, the WHO chief substantiated his point as he visited the Central Drug Warehouse that was destroyed in last year’s port explosion. 

USD$4 million Aid

Earlier this month, Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs of UN Martin Griffiths announced an allocation of USD$4 million from the Central Emergency Response Plan (CERP)  to aid the country’s exacerbating fuel crisis and support the continuity of essential services. “Lebanon faces profound uncertainty. The humanitarian community, though, is resolved to assist all vulnerable populations, whether Lebanese, refugees or migrants,” he said. 

Image: AP