MSF-USA: Lebanon: Activity Update

August 3, 2006
Lebanon: Activity Update

In the south of Lebanon, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams visited the area close to the Israeli border on July 31st and August 1st. They supplied drugs to medical staff in Bint Jbail and Aaitaroun and provided medical consultations in Tebnine, a transit hub for people fleeing the region. MSF also helped evacuate people who had been trapped in Aaitaroun, a heavily bombed village close to the border.

In Sour, MSF set up clinics for the local population as well as the displaced living in schools and abandoned buildings.

In Sour, MSF provides clinics for the local population and a mobile clinic to serve the displaced people living in schools and abandoned buildings. Photo © Sergio Cecchini/MSF

In Sour (Tyre) MSF is running an out-patient clinic in Bashour Hospital. Mobile teams are also going out two days a week to provide medical care to displaced people in collective centers in Sour. A clinic has been running in Saida since July 31st. MSF teams have distributed baby formula and hygiene kits to 150 families in Sour and hygiene and cooking kits to 500 families in Saida (Sidon).

North-east of Sour, MSF is supporting hospitals in Nabatiye and Jezzine. On August 2nd, MSF staff traveled to the south of the Bekaa valley and distributed relief goods to displaced people in El Qaraaoun. Conditions there are currently reasonable.

There are more than 200,000 displaced people living in the mountainous regions around Mount Lebanon and in the Chouf region southeast of Beirut, where MSF is working in Alaay and Beit Ed Dine districts. The latest arrivals are having to find shelter in particularly poor conditions. The local community is helping as much as they can but, after more than two weeks, there is a lack of drinking water and some food shortages.

MSF teams are distributing relief goods to the most needy. Almost 8,000 people have received cooking equipment, blankets, stoves, and hygiene kits containing soap, razors, toothbrushes, etc. MSF teams are also improving water and sanitation facilities at sites where displaced people have gathered.

Lebanese medical staff is still coping with most medical needs, but are now running short of some common medicines, including drugs for treating chronic diseases. MSF has supplied materials for 5,000 hemodialysis treatments. The MSF teams are working with Lebanese medics to set up mobile clinics to cope with the growing demand for medical care for displaced people.

In Beirut, about 70,000 displaced people are living in several hundred schools. MSF teams have started running mobile clinics in the east and west of the city and have already seen more than 200 patients. One of the main problems is the lack of clean water, washing areas, toilets, and showers. There is also a shortage of treatment for people suffering from chronic diseases. MSF plans next to assess areas in the south and investigate the need for mental health support for people in Beirut.

MSF distributed powdered milk, diapers, soap and other items to about 600 displaced people who had found shelter in a school in Sour. Photo © Sergio Cecchini/MSF

Supplies are still arriving from Europe into neighboring countries where MSF has set up supply bases. So far, 118 tons of relief materials have reached Beirut, to be sent to the different areas where MSF teams are working. An additional 100 tons are still awaiting shipment from Cyprus. These materials are composed of non-food items (hygiene kits, cooking set, blankets, and tents), medical supplies (material for dialysis, medicines, surgical kits, etc.), and logistical material (sanitation equipment, vehicles, etc.)

There are an estimated 30,000 Lebanese refugees in Syria. MSF flew in a cargo of blankets, mattresses, and hygiene goods on August 3rd, which will be distributed to 8,500 people sheltering in schools and universities.