WHO sounds 'alarm' over cholera in Lebanon: 1,400 cases, 17 victims
The epidemic has reached the capital and is present in all eight governorates. At least 600,000 doses of vaccine are needed for the most exposed categories, but so far only 13,000 doses have arrived. Exacerbating the emergency is a collapsing health system and political and institutional gridlock. From Syria to Afghanistan, a regional problem.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - Lebanon has received the first stockpile of vaccines against cholera, to combat an epidemic that has spread nationwide and which, according to experts of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has reached alarming levels, highlighting all the limits in terms of public health.
The latest toll is from 31 October and speaks of 1,447 cases and 17 confirmed victims, but the numbers are set to rise in the coming days. The first contagion from the disease, which spreads through contaminated water, sewage and food, dates back to a month ago and is now also present in Beirut.
The Land of the Cedars had eradicated cholera in 1993, but the progressive impoverishment caused by the economic crisis and a worsening of public health, combined with the political stalemate linked to opposing interests in the ruling class and in the institutions, have reopened the door to the disease.
It has now spread to the capital, but the main outbreak remains in the northern city of Bebnine, where the first infections occurred and the health authorities have set up an emergency hospital.
Laboratory-confirmed cases were registered in all eight governorates and in 18 (out of a total of 26) districts. Abdinasir Abubakar, doctor and WHO representative in the country, explains that 'cholera is deadly, but it can also be prevented through the use of vaccines and by having adequate sanitation and drinking water.
The most serious cases,' he adds, 'can be easily treated with the appropriate antibiotics and adequate rehydration' of the body. However, 'the situation in Lebanon remains fragile as the country is already struggling to combat other crises, aggravated,' he concludes, 'by the prolonged political and economic deterioration.
Against a backdrop of profound difficulties, world experts are sounding the alarm and stepping up their efforts with the local Ministry of Health and sector NGOs to extinguish the outbreaks and limit the further spread of the disease. The main weapon remains vaccines, even in the face of a general shortage on a global scale.
The goal is to reach at least 600,000 doses for the categories most at risk, which include health workers on the front line in the fight against cholera, prisoners, refugees housed in centres scattered throughout the country, and the communities hosting them.
"Vaccines," confirmed Health Minister Firass Abiad, "play an essential role in limiting its spread. At a joint press conference, the French ambassador to Lebanon, Anne Grillo, announced the first supply of 13,000 doses, but many more will be needed. 'The origins of this epidemic,' the transalpine diplomat explained, 'where public health is at stake, must also be treated with care'.
Meanwhile, from the affected areas come testimonies of pain and suffering, especially from the Bebnine field hospital. Nearby there is also a refugee camp where Syrian children play amidst rubbish strewn everywhere and dirty water, in a sort of open-air rubbish dump (or latrine). A global alarm, given that for WHO experts, the reappearance of cholera in Lebanon is to be associated with the epidemic in neighbouring Syria, where it had spread from Afghanistan (primary source) via Iran and Iraq.
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26/06/2017 09:29
