By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – WHO representative in Lebanon Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar on Friday said that the international community must come to the aid of Lebanon in the face of back-to-back crises and spillover from the war in Gaza as reports emerged of more Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanon.
Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar outlined how the UN agency has been supporting Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, after the wave of electronic device explosions this week.
WHO and global media reported hundreds of pagers across the country detonated on Tuesday, while walkie-talkies and solar panels blew up the following day.
The attacks reportedly targeted the Hezbollah militant group, killed civilians, including children.
Dr. Abukakar said that 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.”
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, the agency noted.
WHO provided other support, including for mental healthcare services for health workers, patients and families, and to allow essential health services to continue.
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.
He added that Lebanon is in the midst of financial turmoil 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.
He noted “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”.
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.”
WHO is scaling up operations in the south. Mobile clinics operated by partners offer immunization services, primary healthcare and nutritional support to people displaced by conflict.
He urged the international community to protect healthcare workers and civilians, as well as health facilities.
Dr. Abubakar 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 added.
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