Lebanon’s Ministry of Health has now recorded 532 cholera infections since the country’s first cholera outbreak in 30 years broke out last month, although the death toll has remained stable at 18 for the past 13 days and the number of people admitted to hospital continues to fall with each passing day, from 62 to 60 since last Saturday.
The eleven new cases recorded during the last 24 hours continue to highlight the seriousness of an outbreak that has led the Lebanese authorities to launch a three-week vaccination campaign on Tuesday, coinciding with the receipt of 600,000 doses of vaccines offered by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The cholera vaccination campaign began Saturday morning in Bekaa and Akkar in northern Lebanon, two of the most affected populations, where it will continue for the next 18 days.
About 200 people, including administrative staff and nurses, equipped by the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC), were deployed in the morning in several villages of Akkar, where vaccination will be carried out according to a program determined by the Ministry of Health, in coordination with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
In addition, the United Nations announced Thursday the release of $9.5 million (a similar figure in euros) to support the country’s efforts against cholera with an aid package that will go in part to the national operations of WHO, UNICEF, UNHCR and other NGOs.
Authorities remind that the crisis is not yet over, especially in the most affected areas, in Akkar and the north, and to a lesser extent in Mount Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek-Hermel, especially as the Lebanese Ministry of Health is monitoring around 2,200 possible suspected cases still awaiting confirmation.
