Medical care for vulnerable populations in Lebanon

Dear friend,

We hope you have been doing well!

As promised in our previous report, the mobile health unit is up and running. We feel very happy about it because this allows us to reach out to more people in need. At the same time, we continue to provide the same services at Insan’s centers as well.

We are currently covering 6 different locations in Lebanon: Tyre, Bekaa, Sed el Boushrieh, Ghazir, Ein El Rmenneh and Sin El Fil. Due to severe fuel shortages in the country, both us and the beneficiaries have been facing some logistical difficulties but the situation has slightly improved by now and we have managed to assist 193 people with medical or psychosocial support needs since the start of the project.

The project’s main activity is patient counselling which includes tips and guidance on how to decrease pain, how to maintain normal blood pressure (e.g. by lowering caffeine and sodium intake) etc. We also conduct blood pressure and blood sugar screenings and provide medications for acute problems such as toothache, back pain and headache among others whenever possible. Insan’s psychologist accompanies the medical team everywhere and provides psychological counselling sessions to those who are in need.

Unfortunately, we are lacking medications for chronic illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes and heart problems because of their unavailability in the local pharmacies. Thus, we are closely monitoring the information issued by the Ministry of Health and conducting service mapping to refer beneficiaries, in need of medications and services that we don’t have, to other dispensaries and organisations in the nearby area.

Thank you for supporting us and the vulnerable communities in Lebanon. It means a lot to us and we hope to bring you more good news in our next report!

Best regards,

The INSAN-team