The first injury was recorded in a Syrian refugee camp near the northern city
The frequency of cholera cases in Lebanon is increasing day by day; Due to a series of catastrophic factors, including the spread of poverty in large segments of the Lebanese, especially in the countryside and remote areas … “Agence France Presse” published a report on the epidemic and its victims in particular on Saturday in the northern region, which stated:
Marwa Khaled is fully aware that contaminated water was behind her son’s cholera infection and hospitalization, but continues to use it because clean water is not available to most of her residents. poor city in northern Lebanon, which has turned into a focus for the outbreak of the epidemic.
The woman expects “everyone will get cholera” in the city, like her sixteen-year-old son, who is still being treated in a field hospital set up in the town of Benin at the end of last October.
Like many residents of this crowded city, Marwa, 35, and her six children drink dirty water because they can’t afford to buy bottles of mineral water.
“People know,” he says, standing by his son’s bed, “but there’s no trick in hand. We have no other choice.”
Cases of cholera began appearing in Lebanon in early October for the first time in decades, in light of an economic collapse that negatively impacted the ability of public services to provide basic services, such as water, electricity and shelter. with the collapse of infrastructure.
On Monday, the World Health Organization warned of “a rapid spread of the deadly cholera epidemic in Lebanon”, with the number of confirmed infections reaching about 400 and the resulting deaths rising to 18 cases.
Rana Ajaj, who cares for her two daughters in the field hospital, says she and four other members of her family of eight have contracted cholera.
“Even after the wounded heal from us, we will drink from the same water again, and what happened will happen again, and we will get sick again,” she added, as she cares for her eldest daughter, 17, and her. younger, 9, injured for the second time.
On the other hand, behind a screen, ten-year-old Malik Hamad, who has lost 15 pounds since he got sick two weeks ago, has a hard time drinking a rehydrating solution, while his mother fears that her other 10 children will also get sick. . Benin, whose families comprise large numbers of individuals and live in poverty, has witnessed over a quarter of total cholera cases in Lebanon.
Every day about 450 people come to the town’s field hospital, located about 20 kilometers from the border with Syria, according to its director, Nahid Saad El-Din, while its population is about 80,000, of which a quarter they are Syrian refugees, and in the Reyhanli camp assigned to them near the city The first infection was recorded after the emergence of cases in Syria.
Few houses in Benin are connected to the dilapidated drinking water network and there is no regularity in their supply due to frequent power cuts.
North Lebanon Water Establishment engineer Tarek Hammoud indicates that the number of shared homes on the network does not exceed 500.
Subsequently, most residents are forced to purchase water transported by tankers from sometimes contaminated wells, which also runs through the city, one of the cholera-contaminated tributaries of the Nahr al-Bared, according to the director of the field hospital. . which contaminated the wells and springs from which the residents used to drink.
Saad El-Din explains that “this water irrigates all agricultural land and pollutes all wells and springs in Benin”.
Referring to the black-colored water that irrigates farms and agricultural land, Jamal Essebsi states that the sewage flows into the river, littered with baby diapers and trash “and all the disgusting things.”
He asks: “What is the municipality doing about it? She is sleeping. “And he adds,” It is not surprising that diseases spread, as they will surely spread in the light of such a reality! “
Cholera usually appears in residential areas that suffer from a shortage of drinking water or a lack of sewage systems. It is often caused by consuming contaminated food or water and leads to diarrhea and vomiting. It’s easily treatable, but it can kill the patient in hours without treatment, according to the World Health Organization.
In an effort to combat the spread of the epidemic, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Lebanese Red Cross have taken the initiative to distribute soluble chlorine to the population to sterilize water.
“I was not afraid of the Corona virus as much as I am afraid of cholera today,” said Sabera Ali (44), a school principal, two of her family members who died of cholera last October.
The director of the field hospital, Nahid Saad El-Din, believes that “the infrastructure must be changed and that the wells and springs must be treated”. “We are asking for a long-term plan to address the situation, otherwise we will see many more catastrophes,” he added.
