Highlights
Lebanon remains concerned with overburdened primary health care (PHC) services and high hospital utilization rates by Syrian refugees. There is an urgent need to continue humanitarian programming to cope with the immediate health needs of refugees while simultaneously strengthening the resilience of the health systems to provide a sustainable response to the health needs of the affected populations, both refugees and host.
The severe demographic burden observed with more than a 25% increase in population over four years (Lebanon Crisis Response Plan 2015-16), due to Syrian displacement, has had serious negative impacts on the economy, social stability and key determinants of health such as WASH and employment. This has escalated social tension.
Lebanon has witnessed an increasing incidence of diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections and hepatitis A over the past two years. There has been an increase in the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases, with two reported outbreaks (measles and mumps). Lebanon remains polio free in spite of the polio outbreak in Syria and Iraq (2013 - 2014), because of repeated polio campaigns conducted at national and sub-national levels. However, the high risk of transmission remains.
Tuberculosis prevalence in Lebanon has increased since 2011.Maternal and child health, mental health (MH) and noncommunicable disease (NCD) services are significantly overstretched.