Cologne/Beirut. According to the UN, the attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon and the capital Beirut have been the deadliest in years. The local Ministry of Public Health reports that around 500 people have died and over 1,500 have been injured. More than a hundred thousand people are internally displaced.

Staff at the health facilities of the Order of Malta Lebanon, the partner organization of Malteser International, must care for a growing number of people while also risking injury themselves. “We have already had to relocate one of the community healthcare centers in the south of the country for safety reasons, as several bombings hit the immediate vicinity. The staff of the two southern mobile medical units, which currently provide health care primarily for refugees, have to constantly adjust their routes to avoid the attacks. The staff are working at their limits, all under the constant threat to their own lives,” says Lisa Kramer, country coordinator Lebanon, who was working on the ground until a few days ago.

“The work is becoming increasingly difficult for our partner organization and us, but right now the people in Lebanon need our support. We have seen in other wars that health facilities were not protected from attacks, and we now call for international law to be upheld and for the protection of health facilities to be ensured,” says Kramer.

Since 2012, Malteser International has been working with the Order of Malta Lebanon to support people in need in Lebanon. Malteser International focuses on mobile and stationary healthcare (4 Mobile Medical Units and 11 Community Healthcare Centers of the Lebanese Order of Malta across the country) as well as improving the nutritional situation through the operation of agricultural centers.

The people in Lebanon are in urgent need of donations.

Malteser International (MI) works as an international humanitarian aid organization. It is an aid organization of the Catholic Order of Malta and particularly fulfills the order’s mission of “helping those in need”. The mission is to improve the health and living conditions of suffering and displaced people worldwide. The organization provides aid to people in need in over 140 projects in 37 countries, regardless of religion, political conviction, origin or gender. Christian values and the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence form the basis of its work. For further information please visit: www.malteser-international.org/en   

Attention editorial offices:

Photos are available for download here.

Lisa Kramer, Malteser International’s country coordinator for Lebanon, is available for interviews and sound bites.

Contact: Sara Villoresi, +1 646-794-3457 , sara.villoresi(at)malteser-international.org