The huge increase in the number of Syrian refugees has overstretched the water and sanitation, housing and health care systems in Lebanon. The overcrowded living and environmental sanitation conditions of the informal tent settlements, as well as limited access of these refugees to health care, have increased the risk of diarrhoeal disease outbreaks among this refugee population. The risk is further accentuated as the country is expected to face a severe water shortage this summer, particularly in the areas where the unregistered Syrian refugees are living, due to the unusually low precipitation during the past winter. An early rainy season may also amplify the seasonal occurrence of diarrhoeal diseases in the country.
As part of improving public health preparedness for cholera and other epidemic-prone diarrhoeal diseases among the Syrian refugees living in informal settlements, a technical assessment mission was recently conducted by the Regional Office in Lebanon. The WHO mission members conducted a rapid field assessment in two of the largest and accessible informal settlement for Syrian refugees, in the Bekaa and Sidon areas of Lebanon. The WHO mission also reviewed the national preparedness plans and advised the government on concrete steps to mitigate the risks of diarrhoeal disease epidemics among the Syrian refugees interms of immediate, short-term and medium-term measures.
The WHO mission was particularly concerned about the sanitary conditions of the informal settlements of Syrian refugees where the field assessments were conducted and concluded that the risk of introduction of Vibrio cholerae and/or any other epidemic diarrhoeal disease pathogens and their spread across the country is real, owing to considerable population movement between these settlements hosting high number of displaced Syrian refugees with limited access to health care and other lifeline services.
Related links
Surveillance and forecasting response
Emergency and humanitarian action
