WHO Issues $76 Million Appeal for Lebanon After Deadly Blast
The agency is shipping $1.7 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) items to supplement Covid-19 and humanitarian supplies destroyed by the blast.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has underlined its support to Lebanon following the devastating explosion last week that destroyed large parts of the capital, Beirut. The world health agency has issued a $76 million appeal for Lebanon, while its staff is on the ground working alongside Lebanese and other UN partners to assess the impact on the health sector.
The agency is shipping $1.7 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) items to supplement Covid-19 and humanitarian supplies destroyed by the blast.
“We are also working closely with national health authorities to enhance trauma care, including through the deployment and coordination of qualified emergency medical teams,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday, in his briefing to journalists. “We’re also mitigating the Covid-19 impact, addressing psychosocial needs and facilitating the rapid restoration of damaged health facilities.”
Meanwhile, the Lebanese government is in the process of resigning amid growing protests over the August 4 explosion in Beirut that killed more than 200 people. Lebanon’s leaders are accused of culpability for the blast through their alleged negligence and corruption.
According to a report in BBC, the president and prime minister have said the explosion was the result of the detonation of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored for six years without safety measures at Beirut’s port.
The BBC report adds that public anger is growing in Lebanon following the devastating explosion in Beirut last week that killed at least 200 people and injured around 5,000 others.
