UN releasing $9 million to help Beirut hospitals

The United Nations says it is releasing $9 million to address immediate needs following the explosion that devastated Beirut, and help strengthen operations in the city’s hospitals.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq says the money from the Lebanese Humanitarian Fund will be followed by additional funds from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund.

He says the UN is carrying out assessments of the damage and needs resulting from the massive explosion and hopes to hold a meeting on Monday to inform the 193 UN member states of the results and launch an appeal to help Lebanon.

Haq says: “We’re trying to get the relevant figures ready as soon as we can.”

He adds that the World Health Organization reported that the blast left three hospitals unusable and two others with substantial damage, and that “the equivalent of 500 hospital beds have been lost.”

He says the initial $9 million will be used to expand and establish additional intensive care units where needed and provide trauma kits, ventilators, medical supplies and medicine.

WHO will help “cover 1,000 trauma interventions and 1,000 surgical interventions for people suffering from burns and wounds caused by glass and other debris resulting from the blast.”

— AP