The Lebanese health system under high pressure

“It’s a disaster,” exclaims the D^D Luna Hammad, medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Lebanon. Displaced people are sleeping in the streets in Beirut, doctors fear the outbreak of epidemics, medical equipment in hospitals is running out and around a hundred health establishments in the south of the country have had to close their doors. At the same time, the UN continues to denounce Israeli attacks targeting ambulances and aid centers.

“We are in a humanitarian emergency. The situation is extremely worrying and it continues to deteriorate due to the escalation of tensions and violent bombings,” said the doctor in an interview from Beirut.

Since September 23, the Israeli army has been carrying out intense strikes on Lebanon — particularly in the south of the country, in the Bekaa Valley and in the southern suburbs of Beirut — to neutralize Hezbollah. The Shiite group has been launching projectiles at Israel for a year in solidarity with Hamas.

According to the Lebanese government, the Israeli military campaign has caused more than 2,000 casualties, some 10,000 injured and driven more than a million Lebanese from their homes. “Health infrastructures are under pressure”, worries the D^D Hammad, adding that the basic needs of the displaced are not being met for the moment.

On the street

Among the Lebanese fleeing the bombs that fell on the south of the country, some found refuge with friends or family further north. Others managed to rent accommodation in a safer region or find a place in one of the country’s 800 improvised shelters — mainly schools. But for others, all that remains is the street, garages or warehouses. “They settle everywhere. »

And to survive, they need everything, points out the D^D Hammad. “When there is a distribution [d’aide humanitaire]there are tensions between those who took it and those who did not succeed. There isn’t enough to go around. The needs are too great, and the traumas are too great. »

In schools where thousands of displaced people gather, hygiene measures are often precarious. “These are not places ready to receive people to live there. » Access to drinking water or even toilets and showers is limited.

The spread of infectious diseases is on the radar of health authorities. “The shelters are overloaded. You can find three or four families in a small room. Transmission can be very rapid,” notes the doctor.

State of shock

Psychological trauma is also numerous. “ [Dans les refuges] we see on the children’s faces that they are in a state of shock, reports the D^D Hammad. There are women who breastfeed their babies and cry at the same time. And old people who have sometimes left their homes without taking their wheelchair or walker, who no longer have their medication, and who cry on the floor on mattresses. » Others have to deal with the death of one or more of their loved ones. “It really hurts to see them. »

In hospitals, both material and human resources are limited. “There are staff members who fled with their families. »And the large number of injured means that the material needs are immense. “They use a lot of it. »

Since the start of the crisis, MSF has been providing psychological first aid to displaced people. The organization also organizes recreational activities for children and distributes trauma kits to hospitals that receive injured people, among other things. More than 500 MSF doctors, nurses, psychologists, specialists in water and sanitation management, logisticians, etc. are hard at work in Lebanon to deal with this crisis.

Without medical care

In several regions, access to health care is weakened or now completely absent. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 100 health facilities in southern Lebanon have been forced to close their doors due to bombing and ground operations by the Israeli army.

However, civilians are still in these border regions, reports the D^D Hammad. MSF is trying to send medical equipment there. “But it’s very difficult, because we fear putting our staff at risk. […] The bombings target everything that moves. Risk is everywhere. »

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also denounced on Thursday new attacks by Israel “during which ambulances and aid centers were targeted or hit, causing new victims”.

Over the past year, the WHO counted 92 casualties and 92 injuries in Lebanon following 38 attacks on healthcare facilities.

Luna Hammad today calls on the international community to increase its support for Lebanese civilians. “I left my children at home in another country to help people here in Lebanon as much as possible to alleviate their suffering,” she says. But it’s hard, the needs are very great and humanitarian aid is not enough. »

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