Lebanon: WHO appeals for more support for civilians as crises intensify

Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar outlined how the UN agency has been supporting Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, including following the wave of electronic device explosions this week.

Hundreds of pagers across the country simultaneously detonated on Tuesday, while walkie-talkies and even some solar panels blew up the following day.  The attacks reportedly targeted the Hezbollah militant group, killing civilians, including children.

Region 'on the brink of a castrophe'

Speaking at the regular briefing for correspondents in New York, Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called for "maximum restraint" by all parties to the conflict. 

"We are very concerned at the heightened escalation across the Blue Line including the deadly strike we saw in Beirut today", he added.

"We also urge the parties to immediately return to the cessation of hostilities...The region is on the brink of a catastrophe."

An 'unprecedented' crisis

Dr. Abukakar told UN News that as of Thursday evening, the Ministry of Health had recorded 37 deaths and more than 3,000 wounded.  

WHO has been assisting Lebanon’s hospitals to prepare for mass casualty events given the unrest in the region.

He described the past few days as “unprecedented”, both for the country and the health system, “because in one time on September 17, from almost 3:30 up to 4 o'clock, almost 3,000 injured patients were rushed to hospitals, and the hospitals were not prepared enough, actually, to handle simultaneously that number of cases.”

Support and supplies

Following the explosions, WHO supported the Ministry of Health “to properly coordinate with the hospitals so at least there is a proper referral system,” he said.

“We work with the emergency operation rooms to ensure that there's a proper coordination within the hospitals where patients can be referred from one hospital to another hospital.”

Teams also dispensed and distributed supplies hospitals would need to manage cases, in addition to supporting the Lebanese Red Cross with proper supplies and testing kits for blood transfusions.

WHO also provided other support, including for mental healthcare services for health workers, patients and families, and to allow essential health services to continue.

Crisis upon crisis

The crisis is the latest challenge for Lebanon, where the health system has been severely impacted in recent years. 

Dr. Abubkar said first there was the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the devastating August 2020 explosion at the port in the capital, Beirut. The blast killed more than 200 people and caused millions in damage. 

Lebanon is also in the midst of financial turmoil, he added, and experiencing spillover from the war in Gaza which erupted last October after Hamas-led attacks on Israel.  Many hospitals have been managing trauma-related cases due to cross-border violence.

“Before the recent event that happened on 17 September there were almost 2,700 wounded patients and also about 550 deaths due to the conflict,” he noted.

WHO is also scaling up operations in southern Lebanon, where mobile clinics operated by partners offer immunization services, primary healthcare and nutritional support to people displaced by the fighting.

Preparing for mass casualty events

Dr. Abubakar said WHO and Lebanon’s Ministry of Health have invested heavily in preparedness of hospitals and health facilities, including advance training on trauma management, which proved valuable following the wave of explosions earlier this week.

“We propositioned supplies. We did a number of simulation exercises for this kind of a mass casualty event. I think some of those hospitals, actually, were prepared in a sense where at least they should expect this kind of a mass casualty event,” he said.

He praised the health authorities for their “tremendous effort” on coordination, whereby hospitals that were overwhelmed or “saturated” could transfer patients to other locations.

“In total, over 100 hospitals have received wounded patients,” he said. “And you can imagine now, in a country as small as Lebanon, which has five million people, when there's so much injured people to be received within a very short period, how the health system will feel.”

Support Lebanon now

Asked if he had any message, Dr. Abubakar underlined the need to respect international humanitarian law and to protect healthcare workers and civilians, as well as health facilities.

He also urged greater support for Lebanon, stressing the need for more resources to respond to the ongoing crisis “but also the worst-case scenario”.

“I'm appealing to the international community that we need more resources to help to support those who have been injured, those who have been affected, the displaced people, in the current conflict,” he said.