Beirut, Lebanon - October 06, 2024

Lebanon received 25 tons of medical aid from the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Sunday afternoon.

Attending the handover ceremony at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanese Minister of Public Health Firas Abiad called the aid "significant" given the difficult situation that hospitals and the health sector are currently facing.

UNICEF Representative in Lebanon, Edouard Beigbeder, stated at the ceremony that the agency's total aid will amount to 67 tons, capable of serving 700,000 people who are at risk of several types of diseases.

Shotlist:
Beirut, Lebanon - Oct 6, 2024:
1. Various of plane taxiing at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport;
2. Various of officials from Lebanon, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) at airport, medical aid;
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Firas Abiad, Lebanese Minister of Health:
"Today, we received special aid for Lebanon's health and medical sector. The aid came through UNICEF. The plane is carrying 25 tons of important medicines, especially for the displaced, as well as supplies that we need in hospitals. This is the third batch, and 70 tons of aid have arrived, part of which arrived on yesterday's flights, and part by land from Jordan. With the arrival of this plane, a significant amount of aid has been delivered."
4. Various of medical aid being unloaded;
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Firas Abiad, Lebanese Minister of Health:
"This aid is very important because we understand the difficult situation that hospitals and the health sector are going through. It allows the hospitals to continue providing services, especially to the displaced people whose numbers exceed 1.2 million and who have urgent health needs. It also helps us continue reaching shelters and providing services. I thank the international community, especially UNICEF, which has been a constant partner of the Ministry of Health and is crucial for continuing our services and supporting our sector.";
6. Various of medical aid, e-cart leaving with medical aid;
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon:
"The hospitals and the PHC (Primary Health Care) are in dire needs of drugs to replenish all the stocks that were used these last two weeks. And UNICEF is supporting the government, and the hospitals and the PHC by bringing today 25 metric tons of different kits, trauma kits and emergency kits. And it will be, this week, a total of 67 metric tons of such health goods. This will be able to serve up to 700,000 people for a period of three months, but actually more are required for other types of disease and to maintain the PHC being a vital part of the response.";
8. Various of e-cart leaving loaded with medical aid, medical aid being unloaded.

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