Efforts have been stepped up to improve public health preparedness to mitigate the risk of cholera and other epidemic diarrhoeal diseases throughout the country, particularly in areas where large numbers of unregistered Syrian refugees are living in overcrowded conditions.Beirut, 9 July 2014 – WHO has stepped up epidemic preparedness efforts in...

Beirut, 2 July – WHO Lebanon has provided the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health with 13 vehicles with the support of the Kuwaiti emergency fund. The vehicles are intended to support the network of primary health care centres, the surveillance programme, and the communicable diseases and tuberculosis control programmes. Threats to public health...

Beirut, Lebanon, 1 July 2014 – WHO has provided life-saving medicines, intravenous fluids and surgical supplies to support more than 500 000 people across Lebanon through agency-specific deliveries. With a concerned host population comprising 1.2 million inhabitants and more than 1 million displaced Syrian since the outburst of the Syrian crisis in...

Officials fear that the risks of under-immunization are not clearly understood by the publicBeirut, 10 April 2014 – As the threat of polio grows across the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon today launched a national polio immunization campaign to prevent polio regaining a foothold in Lebanon after an absence of...

One of the programme's objectives is to increase the capacity of primary health care centresLebanon has experienced an unprecedented influx of refugees due to the conflict in neighbouring Syria. This is putting a severe strain on the host communities and authorities. The Government of Lebanon estimates that 1.2 million Lebanese nationals are...

Boxes of marker pens were delivered to the Ministry of Public Health quarantine warehouse for the polio campaign third roundBeirut, 10 March 2014 - Lebanon was certified as a country free of poliomyelitis by the Regional Commission for Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication in 2002. The last indigenous poliomyelitis case was reported on 8 June 1994....

Beirut, 5 March 2014 – The Ministry of Public Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF announce the launch of a third nationwide polio immunization campaign as part of the continued efforts to keep Lebanon’s children safe from polio. The six-day campaign, which starts on 10 March, aims to reach almost 600 000 children under the age...

20 February 2014 – Aiming at integrating mental health into primary health care, WHO Lebanon has conducted a series of training between November and December 2013 on the mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) which seeks to improve access and care to services for people with mental health disorders by integrating services for mental health...

Dr Balladelli, WHO Regional Emergency Coordinator, with Marah, a Syrian refugee, at a refugee settlement in Tripoli, Lebanon 14 October 2013 - Since the outbreak of the crisis, Lebanon has seen its population rise by nearly one third. For over two years Syria’s neighbours have struggled to cope with the protracted influx of Syrian refugees....

To support national health authorities in countries hosting displaced populations, WHO works with UNHCR, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and other partners to ensure the provision of health services to refugees and host communities. Photo credit: Heba Aly/IRIN.2 July 2013 – More than 55% of the world’s refugee population come from...