LEBANON: Hospitals struggle as medicine and fuel supplies run low

Lebanon's health ministry, together with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations' Children's Fund - UNICEF, on Wednesday (August 9) launched an immunisation campaign for children displaced by the conflict. The campaign aims at ensuring that children who have been displaced by the conflict and now stay in schools and other public places are protected against a possible breakout of epidemics. The campaign was launched at the Sanayeh public park in Beirut where a makeshift tent was set up to receive parents and their children and give them the vaccinations. Lebanese doctor Najib Nemeh was assigned by the United Nations to help the refugees. "We are giving measles (shots) to 9 months to 15 year-old children and polio (shots) for five years and under, as Vitamin A is given for 9 months to 59 months old babies", said Nemeh. The overcrowded park has been home to refugees from the south of the country and from Beirut's southern suburb. On Tuesday (August 8), around 300 refugees headed to Sanayeh Park following shelling on the Shi'ite residential area that killed 41 people and wounded 61 people. According to the United Nation's Higher Commission For Refugees, (UNHCR), 1,020 people have been killed and 3,508 injured since the beginning of the conflict on July 12th. 915,000 people have been displaced with 45% of them being children. In a news conference in Beirut, a UNHCR spokeswoman gave further details about the aid crisis following the Israeli attacks on main roads and bridges linking the country to the outside world. "Our operations have been slightly hampered because of the bombing of the road last week. We had a relief convoy coming yesterday with six trucks which finally filled our warehouse a little bit but it started its journey on Sunday (August 6) from Damascus so there is only to indicate how long and difficult for us to get our supplies here and we are very dependent on getting all mattresses and blankets and kitchen sets and tents to the people we are helping all around Beirut," said Astrid Van Genderen Stort. "We are also waiting for a plane it should have arrived yesterday, it should have arrived today it still hasn't arrived and it might not be arriving until tomorrow on Friday morning but we hope we will have two planes of mattresses and blankets coming in," she added. But the country's healthcare system is also suffering from shortage of fuel. Earlier this week, Lebanese health minister warned the hospital will stop functioning in two or three days when they run out of fuel. The shortage in fuel is affecting vital hospital wards, refrigeration and incubators following Israel's bombing of fuel storage tanks at the Jiyyeh power plant and Beirut's airport last month. Aid agencies have warned a looming fuel crisis threatens to paralyse power plants, water pumping stations and hospitals. "As a hospital, we are not running on full capacity now. We are running only on 25% capacity of the hospital. We are saving on energy. There is no air-conditioning except in the important wards, like the ICU, OR, CCU and the emergency room," said Bilal Masri, assistant general director of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital. Two tankers with 87,000 tonnes of fuel oil and diesel are docked outside of Israel's naval blockade off Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, but they have refused to bring the supplies in without a written safety guarantee. The U.N. and Lebanon's government say the country will come to a halt within days when fuel runs out. Israeli air strikes have destroyed around 70 bridges, as well as roads, airports and ports in damage estimated at more than $2.5 billion.

ITN Source | August 10, 2006

Tags:. .israeli. .pumping. .conflict. .commission. .storage