Halba, Akkar Governorate– UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with the Ministry of Public Health, today inaugurated the extensions of Halba and Tripoli Governmental hospitals as part of UNHCR’s support to Lebanon’s COVID-19 response. The hospitals are among six governmental hospitals across the country that UNHCR is supporting with expansion […]
Halba, Akkar Governorate– UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with the Ministry of Public Health, today inaugurated the extensions of Halba and Tripoli Governmental hospitals as part of UNHCR’s support to Lebanon’s COVID-19 response.
The hospitals are among six governmental hospitals across the country that UNHCR is supporting with expansion and rehabilitation in order to receive and treat COVID-19 patients and avoid competition for care.
The inauguration was attended by H.E. the Minister of Public Health Dr. Hamad Hassan and UNHCR Representative in Lebanon Ms. Mireille Girard, where the pair had a chance to inspect the recently constructed facilities that are ready to receive and treat COVID-19 patients.
“Everyone has the right to access decent healthcare. This is why, since the onset of the pandemic, we have been working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and other partners within the framework of the national response to ensure that all communities in Lebanon – Lebanese, refugees and other foreigners in need- are safe, and that they have access to the necessary testing, treatment and isolation”, said UNHCR Representative in Lebanon Mireille Girard.
She added: “Every facility we have put in place is available to all, regardless of nationality or status. COVID-19 does not discriminate between people, neither do we.”
UNHCR’s support to hospitals includes 800 additional beds and 100 additional ICU beds, in addition to ventilators and medicine stock.
“We have gathered today to witness the implementation [of the hospital expansion] and to say to our people and to the displaced Syrians that we are working to protect them, and we are standing next to them every step of the way to secure the desired health security. Our main objective is to protect people regardless of nationality or religion. We stand by every human being and their right to access healthcare, in accordance with the international conventions that UNHCR relies on. With absolute confidence, we can say that achievements are reached step by step. I thank UNHCR in the name of the Lebanese society, in the name of displaced Syrians, and in the name of humanity that has no borders” said Minister of Public Health Dr. Hamad Hassan.
Since February, UNHCR teams deployed relentless efforts to build dedicated hospital expansion facilities, rehabilitate existing sections and refurbish them with new medical equipment. The latter will remain the property of the hospitals after the pandemic, with the aim to cure many more patients long after COVID-19.
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For more information, please refer to the attached brochure on UNHCR’s support to Lebanon’s COVID-19 response, or visit the following page: https://www.unhcr.org/lb/corona
Media contacts:
Lisa Abou Khaled, [email protected], +961 71 880 070
Dalal Harb, [email protected], +961 70 113 107
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