On Tuesday, August 4th, two momentous explosions occurred in Beirut, which destroyed large parts of the city. Provisional counts report more than 100 deaths, thousands people injured, and another 300,000 left homeless. This tragedy will worsen the already thorny situation for the Lebanese people, who are currently facing an unprecedented economic crisis, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of the Lebanese population is already struggling to find food, and the healthcare system is weakened and overburdened.
Active in Lebanon since 1990, Doctors of the World, in association with its teams and partners working on the ground, is assessing people’s needs to adapt to the collective care of victims.
“The sanitary framework has already been significantly weakened by the resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic in Lebanon. The explosion destroyed three hospitals in the capital, and the Lebanese healthcare system is completely saturated, making it difficult to treat victims”, warns Bernadette Farcy, Doctors of the World’s coordinator in Lebanon.
“We are particularly worried about the psychological impact of this tragedy on the mental health of the Lebanese people, which is compounded by major health and economic issues,” she adds.
Thanks to your donation, our teams on the ground will be able to respond to victims’ needs quickly.
For every dollar donated by Canadians to the Humanitarian Coalition and its 12 members, including Médecins du Monde Canada, between August 4 and 24, the Government of Canada provided a matching contribution of up to a maximum of $8 million.
Media contact:
Mélissa Cabana
Communication Senior Advisor
Doctors of the World Canada
melissa.cabana@medecinsdumonde.ca
Phone : 514-799-8985
Photo credit: World Vision/Reuters