Pager fragments from blast injuries. Photo credit WHO.26 September 2024, Beirut, Lebanon – How does a country reeling from socioeconomic and internal and external political shocks prepare for an acute health emergency? Lebanon may provide an answer. On 17 September 2024, at 15:30 local time, message-receiving devices (pagers) began to explode...

Children gather during the OCV vaccination campaign in Qolayaat, Akkar. Photo credit: WHO Lebanon23 UN Interagency Award for noncommunicable diseases prevention and control and mental health. Photo credit MOPH Lebanon. 10 September 2024, Beirut, Lebanon – On 19 August, the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon announced the launch of a preemptive...

On 23 July, a fact-finding mission to Arsal municipality in Lebanon’s Baalbek District, led by UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza and including WHO Representative in Lebanon Dr Abdinasir Abubakar, UNICEF deputy representative Ettie Higgins, Head of Office for OCHA Kristen Knutson and representatives of stakeholders, including...

9 July 2024, Beirut, Lebanon – Baabda Governmental University Hospital has officially launched its oxygen generation plant – one of 7 plants newly set up by WHO Lebanon in public hospitals across the country and funded by the German government through KfW Development Bank. The new facility highlights the importance of self-sufficient oxygen...

Public health minister, WHO representative and the Step-by-Step team from the National Mental Health Pogramme, receiving the 2023 UN Interagency Award for noncommunicable diseases prevention and control and mental health. Photo credit MOPH Lebanon.30 June 2024, Beirut, Lebanon – The National Mental Health Strategy for Lebanon 2024–2030 has been...

4 June 2024 – In emergency contexts, almost all people affected will experience some sort of psychological distress. Most of them will improve over time. But people with severe mental disorders are especially vulnerable in emergency settings. They must have support to access mental health care and meet other basic needs in such contexts. For effective...

3 June 2024 – An important visit to Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH) took place on 17 May 2024 to assess the state of Lebanon’s largest public hospital. WHO Representative to Lebanon Dr Abdinasir Abubakar led a technical team from the WHO Country Office in Lebanon. This team accompanied a delegation from the European Civil Protection and...

4 March 2024 – From afar, it would seem like the ambulances rushing injured people to the Emergency Unit at Sibline Governmental Hospital, near the southern town of Saida, were working in the midst of a violent war. Fortunately, however, this was only a drill, successfully coordinated with relevant stakeholders such as the hospital staff, the...

18 February 2024, Beirut, Lebanon – The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and WHO organized the handover yesterday of 6 new Renault Express vehicles to the Ministry’s Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (ESU). WHO Lebanon donated the vehicles to support the ESU team’s work in the field across Lebanon. The handover event at the Ministry’s premises...

The updated PHEOC, a joint venture by the Ministry of Public Health and WHO, is located on the Ministry’s premises. Photo credit: WHO/WHO Lebanon 19 December 2023, Beirut, Lebanon – Lebanon is no stranger to emergencies. The country has known war and, in recent years, has had to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut port blast and a...