Lebanon

Current crisis in Lebanon

Following widescale bombings by Israel across multiple areas in Lebanon on Monday 23 September, MSF is responding to escalating humanitarian needs.

We are delivering healthcare and essential items to people who have been forced to flee their homes. According to the Ministry of Health, 558 people have been killed and 1,835 injured. Thousands more have been displaced and are seeking refuge elsewhere in the country.

The situation is fast-moving. More information on MSF's response will be shared as it becomes available.

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The Lebanese health system struggles to provide basic services as the ongoing economic crisis and political unrest have left more than 80 per cent of people residing in Lebanon below the poverty line and in dire need of assistance.

Access to healthcare in the country is threatened by the pressure on the deteriorating public services on top of the soaring prices of private healthcare. Lebanon hosts more than 1.5 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees, in addition to approximately 250,000 migrant workers.  

We have adapted our services in the past years to provide free, quality healthcare to many communities, including Lebanese people. We run and support health facilities in six governorates, providing general, paediatric, reproductive, and mental healthcare, as well as treatment for non-communicable disease, vaccinations, and health promotion. 

 

Lebanon in 2023

 

MSF activities in Lebanon in 2023

In 2023, as Lebanon’s economic crisis deepened, Médecins Sans Frontières continued to provide healthcare for vulnerable communities and support the national healthcare system through capacity building and medical donations.

Lebanon hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees, 400,000 Palestinians and over 160,000 migrant workers, many of whom live in precarious conditions. Our teams assist the most vulnerable communities by providing reproductive, maternal and paediatric care, mental health support, treatment for chronic diseases, and routine vaccinations for children through our clinics across the country.

In addition, we are working to reinforce the national healthcare system and support local organisations affected by the socioeconomic crisis. This includes capacity building through training, and the provision of medicines and medical supplies to public healthcare centres, especially in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

We are expanding collaborations with the Ministry of Health, local partners and other NGOs, such as Positive on Glucose (PoG), who advocate for individuals living with diabetes. With PoG, we conduct peer support sessions and staff training catering to the holistic needs of people with chronic diseases.

In mid-2023, we ceased our surgical activities in Bar Elias hospital, strategically reorienting our services to general care and support to the health system.

During the year, our teams also responded to health emergencies in various parts of the country, including the dire water and sanitation conditions in the northeast, where we offered treatment for water-borne diseases and distributed hygiene kits.

Following the escalation in conflict in southern Lebanon, we sent medical mobile teams to the Nabatiyeh area to address the growing needs of people who had been displaced since October 2023. We also provided trauma care and mass-casualty training in several hospitals across the country. In Ein Al-Hilweh camp, which hosts Palestinians, we treated people injured in armed clashes between rival factions.

In line with our aims to reduce our global carbon footprint, we installed solar panels in our clinics in Baalbek-Hermel.

Siwar's playground

Surrounded by her toys and holding up her insulin pen, Siwar sits on the floor of her family's makeshift home in Arsal, north Lebanon. After her family fled the war in Syria and took refuge in Lebanon, Siwar was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and began her treatment at the MSF clinic in town. © Carmen Yahchouchi/MSF 

Our history in Lebanon

Lebanon has previously been referred to as the Switzerland of the Middle East because of its financial power and diversity. Today, the country is suffering from a deteriorating humanitarian situation.

Civil war in Syria has put a huge strain on its neighbours, including Lebanon, which now hosts over 1.5 million refugees – the most per capita in the world.

MSF has been working in Lebanon since 1976, when we began our response to the 15-year civil war. Today, we continue to adapt our long-term activities to cover the needs of Lebanese people, as well as refugees and migrants, who often have limited access to medical care.

Our teams provide these communities with free, quality medical assistance, including reproductive healthcare, mental health support, paediatrics, surgery, wound care, treatment for chronic diseases, and routine vaccinations for children. Additionally, we are working to reinforce the national healthcare system and support local organisations affected by the ongoing socioeconomic crisis.

Will you support us?

As an independent and impartial medical humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières can respond rapidly to emergency situations and deliver urgent medical treatment to people in need, no matter who they are.
 
By making a donation, you can help ensure that MSF staff can provide medical assistance during times of crises where it is needed most—both in Lebanon, and around the world.
 

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Médecins Sans Frontières has been working in Afghanistan since 1980, providing emergency surgical care, responding to conflict and natural disasters, and treating people cut off from healthcare. 

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