Distribution of medical supplies in Lebanon. Lebanon: WHO warns of cholera risks amid mass evacuations Peace and Security
The first case of cholera has been recorded in northern Lebanon, raising concerns about the health and safety of displaced people, the World Health Organization said today.
The case was confirmed in Akkar, the country’s northernmost province.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced a response plan to strengthen surveillance, contact tracing and water sampling.
Lack of immunity
Tedros noted that Lebanese health authorities had launched a vaccination campaign in August to vaccinate 350,000 people. However, those efforts were disrupted by escalating gunfire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces and Israel’s expanded military operations last month.
WHO Acting Representative in Lebanon Abdinasir Abubakar, in turn, expressed concern that cholera was threatening many of those who had fled violence in the south of the country. According to Lebanese authorities, about 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes so far.
Read also:
UN warns of catastrophic situation in southern Lebanon and ‘turning point’ in Syria
According to Abubakar, cholera can spread very quickly among them, since the population in the south of the country and in Beirut has developed low immunity to cholera over the past 30 years. This disease spreads in poor sanitation conditions and in the absence of access to clean water.
Healthcare system
The head of the WHO said that the organization has already distributed materials to hospitals to help the wounded, and in cooperation with the Red Cross and medical institutions has begun equipping blood banks with materials for safe donation and training surgeons to save limbs from amputation. At the same time, according to Tedros, the solution to the problem is not humanitarian aid, but peace.
Since the escalation of hostilities a month ago, the WHO has recorded 23 confirmed attacks on health facilities, resulting in 72 deaths and 43 injuries.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid are heading to remote villages in southern Lebanon.
“An increasing number of health facilities, particularly in the south, are being forced to close due to intense bombing and insecurity,” Tedros said, adding that nearly half of all primary health care centres in conflict-affected areas have stopped functioning and 11 hospitals have been fully or partially evacuated.
“Hospitals are already under enormous strain as they deal with an unprecedented influx of injuries while trying to maintain essential services,” he stressed.
Polio vaccination in Gaza
Meanwhile, the second round of the polio vaccination campaign is underway in Gaza. The WHO chief stressed that its success depends on the ability to vaccinate at least 90 percent of children under 10 in all areas of the enclave.
At the same time, in the first half of October, only one of the 54 planned UN missions to northern Gaza was successfully organized, Tedros noted. After nine attempts, WHO and partners were able to deliver supplies and fuel to Kamal Adwan and Al-Sahaba hospitals last Saturday, he explained.
The WHO chief also reiterated his condemnation of ongoing attacks on health facilities across Gaza.
Shockwave against UNIFIL positions
Meanwhile, an IDF Merkava tank opened fire on a peacekeepers’ watchtower in the Kafr Kila area on Wednesday morning local time, according to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Two cameras were destroyed and the facility was damaged.
“Once again, we observe direct and apparently deliberate fire on UNIFIL positions,” the mission said in a statement.
“We remind the IDF and all concerned of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property, and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times,” UNIFIL stressed.