Integral Alliance launched a joint Disaster Response for Lebanon following the explosion that brought widespread devastation to Beirut in August 2020. Here we see an example of how International Health Partners is receiving support from fellow Integral Members to provide much needed medical supplies. We asked Hannah Dean, Programmes Manager with International Health Partners to tell us more …
How has International Health Partners (IHP) responded so far in Lebanon?
We are currently supporting four in-country Partners in Lebanon in response to the explosions that occurred in Beirut on the 4th August. So far, we have sent three shipments containing approximately 100,000 treatments of medicines and supplies.
What are your future plans?
The needs in Lebanon remain extremely high and Partners are looking into their medium and long-term strategy as part of this response. IHP has a long-standing relationship with in-country Partners in Lebanon and has sent several shipments over the last few years. We remain committed to not only supporting the immediate response to the Beirut explosions, but also continuing support to strengthen medical access for vulnerable people across Lebanon as part of the long-term plans of our Partners.
With hyper-inflation (the 3rd highest in the world), COVID-19 and the refugee crisis (the highest number of refugees per capita in the world) and now this massive blow to the country’s infrastructure for medicine importation, the need is not going away quickly.
Thanks to the support of other Integral Members, IHP currently has another six shipments in progress, with a couple more being planned in the pipeline. We are now thinking about medium-term plans for support and how to enable this.
Can you tell us more about how Integral Members have supported your response?
Integral Member Cedar Fund has supported us to send a shipment of wound dressings which arrived in Beirut on 7th September. They are also supporting us to send a further two shipments of medicines and medical supplies which are currently in progress. This vital support from Cedar Fund is enabling us to send nearly 100,000 treatments of essential medicines and supplies including antibiotics, burn creams, hydrocortisone cream, deworming medication, antifungal medications, anti-inflammatories, antihistamines, blood pressure medication, and beta blockers.
Also, Medical Teams International has supported us with the provision of medical supplies including surgery packs as well as an IEHK (Interagency Emergency Health Kit) which we are in the process of sending to Lebanon. They also did two days of medical outreach in coordination with our Partner ANERA.
We are also in conversations with Tearfund Belgium to collaborate on further shipments as part of our response.
Please tell us what you appreciate most about Integral …
The Integral Alliance remains one of the most important partnerships for IHP. It has allowed us to collaborate with other NGOs to increase our reach to the most vulnerable people. The collaboration with Integral Members in the Beirut response demonstrates the incredible value of partnerships in disaster response. Thanks to Integral and its Members, IHP has been able to leverage more needed medicines and supplies into Lebanon to help support the acute and long terms needs.
More information about the Integral joint Disaster Response for Lebanon:
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