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Some Lebanese hospitals are on the brink of running out of critical trauma medical supplies within days due to a surge in casualties from recent Israeli airstrikes, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday. The depleted supplies include essential items like bandages, antibiotics, and anesthetics used to treat war-related injuries.
Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO’s representative in Lebanon, warned, “Some trauma management supplies are already running low, and we might exhaust our stock in just a few days.” The violence continues, with Israel targeting more locations in Lebanon following its most intense attacks of the conflict on Wednesday, which resulted in over 250 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries.
“If another large-scale incident occurs, similar to yesterday’s, it would be disastrous,” Abubakar stated. “We’re likely to lose more lives simply because we do not have enough supplies on hand.” The shortage of trauma kits has been driven by a rapid increase in casualties—mainly civilians—with an estimated three weeks’ worth of supplies consumed in a single day.
In addition to trauma supplies, medications necessary for chronic illnesses, such as insulin for diabetics, are at risk of running out within weeks. Disrupted supply chains, impacted by the Gulf War and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have complicated the situation further, causing delivery costs to triple. Funding constraints are also hampering relief efforts, the WHO noted.
To prevent total depletion of stocks, the WHO and Lebanese health authorities are planning to transfer supplies between hospitals, but the strain on the healthcare system remains severe. Since the conflict began on March 2, prompted by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, over a million people have been displaced across Lebanon, according to the United Nations.
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