Americares Work for Health in Lebanon

Our Work in Country

Americares has provided assistance to Lebanon through a variety of partners since 1986. We work with our partners to deliver medicine, medical supplies, and hygiene items to support critical health services for refugees, disaster survivors, and families in need across the country. We focus on supporting the nation’s overstretched healthcare system that faces ongoing challenges of staffing and funding along with chronic shortages of medicines and medical supplies.

And now we are responding to the latest health care crisis In Lebanon as the Global COVID Pandemic and the horrific Beirut explosion of August 4 have combined to present a health system with unprecedented challenges.

Our work in Lebanon has become even more critical in light of the deteriorating conditions, and we continue to work with our local partners to respond to both the economic and Syrian refugee crises.

Our Work with our Partners

For the past 20 years, Americares has partnered with Anera in Lebanon to support health services for Syrian and Palestinian refugees, as well as the most vulnerable Lebanese in the country. Anera operates five offices in Lebanon which are all staffed by people from the communities they serve. Through this partnership with Anera, donations of aid from Americares can reach over 450 health facilities and social service organizations in Lebanon. Americares aid is also used to support a variety of Anera’s health education and awareness efforts across the country. In this way, Americares and Anera help to ensure beneficiaries have the supplies they need to transform knowledge into action to improve and protect their health.

Since 2018, Americares has partnered with Caritas to provide cash assistance for Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese in need of lifesaving inpatient medical care, or facing major health or economic shocks that could push the household into further poverty and debt. More than 3,000 Syrian refugees and Lebanese have been supported with urgent cash assistance to cover lifesaving inpatient hospital fees and economic shocks. Americares also provided Caritas staff with training in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) to support the implementation of this program.

Americares also provides medicine and medical supplies to U.S.-based medical professionals traveling to Lebanon on medical missions through its Medical Outreach Program.

Health Snapshot*

Lebanon currently hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees per capita, estimated at 1.5 million Syrian refugees. Many of these refugees live in informal tent settlements throughout the country. Lebanon also hosts more than 475,000 Palestinian refugees and 18,500 refugees from other countries, including Sudan, Iraq, and Ethiopia. Refugees in Lebanon generally have very limited access to healthcare, food, housing, employment, and other social determinants of health.

Lebanon was ranked 93 out of 189 counties on the UNDPs Human Development Index in 2019. Increasing exponentially in 2019 and 2020, country-wide economic and political crises have dramatically and negatively impacted access to affordable and accessible healthcare and social services, in large part due to unprecedented levels of inflation.

Total expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP: 6.4%

Life expectancy of 75 years for men and 78 years for women

33.7 hospital beds per 10,000 people

*Health snapshot statistics from UNHCR, UNRWA, UNDP and WHO

Country in Crisis

The horrific explosion in Beirut that killed and wounded hundreds also caused serious damage to health facilities. We are working with our partners to provide medical supplies and help support the health system that already faces the formidable task of managing a COVID pandemic. Read more about our response to the Lebanon Crisis.