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Lebanon

$1.1 Million Medical Shipment Distributed in Lebanon

BEIRUT, LEBANON, September 14, 2021 — Baitulmaal, a Dallas-based international humanitarian relief agency, recently distributed emergency health kits and medical equipment valued at over $1.1 million to eight hospitals and three clinics serving more than 11,000 patients.

Two containers of medical supplies such as nebulizers, dialysis machines, surgical kits, cardiac monitors and oxygen tanks were distributed in four different regions in Lebanon: the Beirut capital, Saida to the South, Tripoli and Akkar in the North, and Sebline in the Mount Lebanon district. Facilities that received the medical distribution include:

  • Orange Nasso Hospital
  • Akkar Governmental Hospital
  • Siblin Governmental Hospital
  • Dar Assalam Hospital
  • Al Hamshari Hospital
  • Der Al Saleeb Hospital
  • Al Makassed Hospital
  • Dar Al Ajaza Hospital
  • Al Tabbaneh Polyclinic
  • Ankoun Polyclinic
  • Al Nahda Polyclinic

According to Elizabeth Sohail, program manager at Baitulmaal, a significant number of patients at these facilities struggle with chronic illnesses as well as acute diseases such as COVID-19.

“Hospitals are places of hope and healing,” said Sohail. “It’s just not right that people suffer or even die because a hospital runs out of oxygen or other medical supplies.”

Political instability, an ongoing pandemic, a catastrophic explosion and an influx of refugees from countries like Syria have contributed to Lebanon’s strained financial situation. The World Bank recently declared that the country is “likely to rank in the top 10, possibly top three, most severe crisis episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century.”

Approximately 33 percent of Lebanese households do not have access to healthcare, and more than half are unable to obtain medicine, according to a UN study by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. Eighty-two percent of the Lebanese population has fallen into poverty since 2019 – one of the sharpest declines in modern times. The Lebanese currency has depreciated by more than 90 percent, and food prices have surged 557 percent according to the World Food Programme.

Baitulmaal was on the ground in Lebanon shortly after the August 4, 2020 explosion, helping to clear debris, feed the hungry and help the homeless. Since then, Baitulmaal reconstructed homes and buildings, installed an electric generator and water well in the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp and provided over 2 million meals to impoverished families in Lebanon. In addition to this $1.1 million medical shipment, Baitulmaal previously sent $1.2 million in medical supplies and hard-to-find medications to hospitals in Beirut.

Baitulmaal provides food, water, medicine, healthcare and other aid to people in Lebanon. If you would like to learn more or contribute to these programs at Baitulmaal, please visit their website at Baitulmaal.org.

Baitulmaal is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides life-saving, life-sustaining and life-enriching aid to people in need around the world. With headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the charity has offices in: Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Nairobi, Kenya; Mogadishu, Somalia; Amman and Al Ramtha, Jordan; and Karachi, Pakistan.