The city of Benin is the point of gravity in the north by number of cases choleraAnd its spread, which has increased at a rapid pace in homes, schools and fields.
What’s in the details?
Mayor of Benin, Zaher Al Kassarrevealed in an interview with the site "Sky News Arabia"The details of the crisis in the city, saying:
- "The city is in a panic and we invite donors from the city’s Syrian refugee camps and international organizations to visit the place and see the situation, which could turn into a health disaster in the next few hours.".
- The city has 10 Syrian refugee camps in the surrounding lands.
- "The houses in the village are clean, but the drinking water that is supplied to the village from the springs is polluted and the crops could transmit the infection, because the wounds have hit the families who buy the purified water.".
Al-Kassar noted that a man in his forties died of cholera on Sunday morning, bringing the death toll over the weekend to 6.
He continued: "We hold the state and officials accountable and urge them to stand by and watch Benin The number of injured hit 500 on Sunday, knowing that the country’s population is around 40,000".
also called a "Establishment of an emergency crisis cell"appealing to international organizations "Helping to find a quick solution, given the gravity of the situation".
Minister of Health: We are working to create a field hospital
The Minister of Health in the provisional government, Firas Al AbyadWith tours of the cholera outbreaks, especially those that include Syrian refugee camps.
White visited the city on Sunday Arsale The border with Beqaa, to see the situation there, after receiving information on the injured in the fields, while on Saturday he visited the town of Benin.
This was stated by the press office of the Minister of Health "Sky News Arabia":
- "After the minister’s visit to Lebanon, the main goal now is to ensure clean water, because what is happening now, in the absence of refined and chlorine-sterilized water by the state, is that citizens are forced to resort to dirty water.".
- "We work with our international partners to distribute chlorine in homes, sterilize water or use water tanks, in collaboration with the Red Cross and the municipality, to test the water and ensure its safety and sterilization.".
- it is necessary "The rapid establishment of a field hospital in the northern city, to avoid delaying the arrival of patients in the area’s hospitals".
Source pollution and quick fixes
For his part, the president and general manager of the North Lebanon Water Corporation, Khaled Obeid, has revealed this "Sky News Arabia"That:
- "The spread of cholera started from two cases of Syrian refugees who brought them from their country, because they entered the region a few weeks ago ".
- "The solution is to quickly dig a well or set up a well in the city whose equipment has been stolen more than once. ". The cost of preparing the well is estimated to be around $ 70,000 to make it drinkable.
- "The water in most Lebanese springs is polluted, especially since the project providing water to the city has been suspended for nearly a year, while the main pumping station has been burgled more than once.".
- The citizens resorted to making safe drinking water from the springs that irrigated the crops in the plain surrounding the town.
medical conditions
And to learn about the situation and medical equipment in the city, the director of Abdullah Al-Rassi Hospital Government, Muhammad Khadrin, for the website "Sky News Arabia":
- "We have the largest number of injured in the region in hospital".
- "There is a rapid increase in the number of injuries and we hope that he will remain confined to the city alone".
- "We are preparing about 50 additional beds, and we have injured people in intensive care, while we are trying to send less severe cases into homes for others to enter.".
How did cholera enter Lebanon and when?
- The first case was detected on 5 October in the governorate of Akkar North Lebanonwhich is a border area with Syria.
- More than a month ago, an unprecedented cholera outbreak was recorded, exceeding 10,000 cases.
- The cases recorded in the country are the first in almost 30 years, when the last infection was registered in 1993, according to what was confirmed by the Minister of Health during his inspection visit to Akkar.
Al-Abyad attributed the cause of the spread of cholera in Lebanon to "A drop in the level of basic services"pointing it out "The decline in services has reached the level of exposure to epidemics that have not entered Lebanon for a long time".
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And the World Health Organization warned Saturday of the risk of a new health crisis spreading in Lebanon, with more than 14 cases of cholera registered within two weeks before the infection crisis in Benin, and expects the number after the release of the results of the expected laboratory tests..
The city of Benin is the point of gravity in the north by number of cases choleraAnd its spread, which has increased at a rapid pace in homes, schools and fields.
What’s in the details?
Mayor of Benin, Zaher Al KassarIn an interview with Sky News Arabia, he revealed details of the crisis in the city, saying:
- “The city is in a panic and we invite donors from Syrian refugee camps in the city and international organizations to visit the place and see the situation, which could turn into a health disaster in the coming hours.”
- The city has 10 Syrian refugee camps in the surrounding lands.
- “The houses in the village are clean, but the drinking water that is supplied to the village from the springs is polluted and the crops could transmit the infection, because the wounds have hit the families who buy the purified water.”
Al-Kassar noted that a man in his forties died of cholera on Sunday morning, bringing the death toll over the weekend to 6.
He continued: “We hold the state and officials accountable and urge them to stand by and watch Benin The number of injured hit 500 on Sunday, knowing that the country’s population is around 40,000.
He also called for “the emergency establishment of a crisis cell”, appealing to international organizations “to lend a hand to find a quick solution, given the gravity of the situation”.
Minister of Health: We are working to create a field hospital
The Minister of Health in the provisional government, Firas Al AbyadWith tours of the cholera outbreaks, especially those that include Syrian refugee camps.
White visited the city on Sunday Arsale The border with Beqaa, to see the situation there, after receiving information on the injured in the fields, while on Saturday he visited the town of Benin.
The health minister’s media office told Sky News Arabia:
- “After the minister’s visit to Lebanon, the main objective now is to ensure clean water, because what is happening now, in the absence of refined and chlorinated water by the state, is that citizens are forced to use dirty water. “
- “We are working with our international partners to distribute chlorine in homes, to sterilize water or to use water tanks, in collaboration with the Red Cross and the municipality, to test the water and ensure its safety and sterilization”.
- It is necessary “to quickly install a field hospital in the northern city, to avoid delaying the arrival of patients in the hospitals in the area”.“.
Source pollution and quick fixes
For his part, Khaled Obeid, President and General Manager of North Lebanon Water Corporation, revealed to “Sky News Arabia” that:
- “The spread of cholera started with two cases of Syrian refugees who brought them from their country, because they entered the region a few weeks ago”. “.
- “The solution is to quickly dig a well or prepare a well in the city, the equipment of which has been stolen more than once.” The cost of preparing the well is estimated to be around $ 70,000 to make it drinkable.
- “The water in most Lebanese springs is polluted, especially since the project that supplies water to the city has stopped running for almost a year, while the main pumping station has been robbed more than once.”
- The citizens resorted to making safe drinking water from the springs that irrigated the crops in the plain surrounding the town.
medical conditions
And to learn about the situation and medical equipment in the city, the director of Abdullah Al-Rassi Hospital Government official Muhammad Khadrin told Sky News Arabia:
- “We have the largest number of injured in the region in the hospital.”
- “There is a rapid increase in the number of injuries and we hope that he will remain confined to the city alone.”
- “We are preparing about 50 additional beds and have injured in intensive care, while we are trying to send less severe cases to homes to let others in.”
How did cholera enter Lebanon and when?
- The first case was detected on 5 October in the governorate of Akkar North Lebanonwhich is a border area with Syria.
- More than a month ago, an unprecedented cholera outbreak was recorded, exceeding 10,000 cases.
- The cases recorded in the country are the first in almost 30 years, when the last infection was registered in 1993, according to what was confirmed by the Minister of Health during his inspection visit to Akkar.
Al-Abyad attributed the reason for the spread of cholera in Lebanon to the “decline in the level of basic services”, noting that “the decline in services has reached the level of exposure to epidemics that have not entered Lebanon for a long time.”
