Nyhed -
20-013-RO DERF Alert note Port Explosion in Beirut - DIGNITY (Not activated)
DIGNITY have submitted an alert note regarding the situation in Beirut in Lebanon. The DERF was not activated for the alerted crisis.
The deadly and devastating chemical explosion on August 4th that killed at least 135 persons, injured 5.000 and left 300.000 people displaced from their homes in Beirut[1], puts extraordinary pressures on primary health structures. The explosion left homes and business destroyed, risking the security, sanitation and livelihoods of the city’s inhabitants.
Several health facilities were damaged by the explosion as Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, and Hopital des Soeurs du Rosare, were ravaged, killing and injuring patients and staff, and adding to current strains already imposed on the official health structures due to the COVID-19 crisis[2], where hospitals are overwhelmed and front-line workers exhausted.
Adding to the socio-economic crisis faced by Lebanon, the August 4th explosion occurs at a time where Beirut’s most vulnerable citizens risk being left behind.
There is a concrete risk that such sudden level of distress and trauma – added to several months of durenes (lack of water, electricity, COVID-19 crisis, poor economy) may lead the local population as well as local powerholders to destabilise the already fragile socio-political context. Immediate health relief both physical and mental can mitigate such risk.
[1] https://reliefweb.int/report/lebanon/lebanon-beirut-port-explosions-situation-report-no-1-5-august-2020
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/world/middleeast/beirut-lebanon-explosion.html
