A year later, a city still damaged. On August 4, 2020, a double explosion in the port of Beirut destroyed part of the Lebanese capital, leaving more than 200 dead and more than 6,500 injured. Europe 1 had visited the site, in particular to the hospital of the Sisters of the Rosary, where the emergency room, the machines and an operating room had been devastated. One year after the tragedy, the structure is still only operating at 30% of its capacity.
The emergency room and maternity ward were renovated, while the chemotherapy department was refurbished. But the rest of the establishment remains under reconstruction. Eliane Mhawej is responsible for quality and risk management at the hospital. For a year, she has been at the head of what was called the day after the explosion “the disaster committee”. “We had 200 beds before. Currently, we can admit up to 40 patients,” she explains. “The hospital can accommodate patients in emergencies and small surgeries, which do not require intensive care, because they are no longer functional.”
The State with absent subscribers
To get back on its feet, the hospital had to rely on international aid. “With the presence of donors and benefactors, we were able to get up,” says Eliane Mhawej. “But without their help, we couldn’t have done anything since the Lebanese state gave us nothing.” A year after the tragedy, Lebanon therefore continues to collapse. The power in place is incapable of financing reconstruction or ensuring access to basic necessities. Public electricity, for example, only works in Beirut for two hours a day. The Sisters of the Rosaries hospital runs on gasoline generators.
For day-to-day care, doctors face a shortage of drugs and have to turn to private donors. An untenable situation which pushes many professionals to desert the country. Since 2019, more than a thousand doctors have left Lebanon, or 20% of the workforce. Wednesday, an international conference is organized Wednesday under the aegis of France. Objective ? Raise at least $ 350 million in emergency aid for the Lebanese people as the country sinks into the worst economic crisis in its history.
–
