Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar outlined how the UN company has been supporting Lebanon’s Ministry of Well being, together with following the wave of digital system explosions this week.
Lots of of pagers throughout the nation concurrently detonated on Tuesday, whereas walkie-talkies and photo voltaic panels blew up the next day. The assaults reportedly focused the Hezbollah militant group, killing civilians, together with kids.
An “unprecedented” disaster
Dr. Abukakar informed UN Information that as of Thursday night, the Ministry of Well being had recorded 37 deaths and greater than 3,000 wounded.
WHO has been aiding Lebanon’s hospitals to arrange for mass casualty occasions given the unrest within the area.
He described the previous few days as “unprecedented”, each for the nation and the well being system, “as a result of in a single time on September 17, from nearly 3:30 as much as 4 o’clock, nearly 3,000 injured sufferers have been rushed to hospitals, and the hospitals weren’t ready sufficient, really, to deal with concurrently that variety of instances.”
Help and provides
Following the explosions, WHO supported the Ministry of Well being “to correctly coordinate with the hospitals so at the least there’s a correct referral system,” he mentioned.
“We work with the emergency operation rooms to make sure that there is a correct coordination inside the hospitals the place sufferers could be referred from one hospital to a different hospital.”
Groups additionally distributed and distributed provides hospitals would wish to handle instances, along with supporting the Lebanese Crimson Cross with correct provides and testing kits for blood transfusions.
WHO additionally supplied different help, together with for psychological healthcare providers for well being staff, sufferers and households, and to permit important well being providers to proceed.
Disaster upon disaster
The disaster is the newest problem for Lebanon, the place the well being system has been severely impacted in recent times.
Dr. Abubkar mentioned first there was the COVID-19 pandemic, adopted by the devastating August 2020 explosion on the port within the capital, Beirut. The blast killed greater than 200 folks and triggered tens of millions in harm.
Lebanon can also be within the midst of monetary turmoil, he added, and experiencing spillover from the warfare in Gaza which erupted final October after Hamas-led assaults on Israel. Many hospitals have been managing trauma-related instances resulting from cross-border violence.
“Earlier than the current occasion that occurred on 17 September there have been nearly 2,700 wounded sufferers and in addition about 550 deaths because of the battle,” he famous.
Getting ready for mass casualty occasions
Dr. Abubakar mentioned WHO and Lebanon’s Ministry of Well being have invested closely in preparedness of hospitals and well being amenities, together with advance coaching on trauma administration, which proved beneficial following the wave of explosions earlier this week.
“We propositioned provides. We did a lot of simulation workout routines for this sort of a mass casualty occasion. I feel a few of these hospitals, really, have been ready in a way the place at the least they need to anticipate this sort of a mass casualty occasion,” he mentioned.
He praised the well being authorities for his or her “super effort” on coordination, whereby hospitals that have been overwhelmed or “saturated” might switch sufferers to different places.
“In whole, over 100 hospitals have acquired wounded sufferers,” he mentioned. “And you’ll think about now, in a rustic as small as Lebanon, which has 5 million folks, when there’s a lot injured folks to be acquired inside a really quick interval, how the well being system will really feel.”
WHO can also be scaling up operations within the south. Cellular clinics operated by companions provide immunization providers, major healthcare and dietary help to folks displaced by battle.
Help Lebanon now
Requested if he had any message, Dr. Abubakar underlined the necessity to respect worldwide humanitarian legislation and to guard healthcare staff and civilians, in addition to well being amenities.
He additionally urged higher help for Lebanon, stressing the necessity for extra assets to answer the continued disaster “but in addition the worst-case situation”.
“I am interesting to the worldwide neighborhood that we’d like extra assets to assist to help those that have been injured, those that have been affected, the displaced folks, within the present battle,” he mentioned.
