Syria Crisis - Primary Health Care in Lebanon - Development and Peace - 2014

May 2014 - The humanitarian situation in Syria continues to deteriorate as a result of the civil war in the country. The United Nations estimates that more than 130 000 people have been killed with hundreds of thousands more wounded due to the violence. Within Syria some 9.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance 6.5 million of whom are internally displaced. In addition over 2.7 million Syrian refugees are registered and living in host countries in the region. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the impact of the conflict and host countries are increasingly overstretched by the influx of affected people needing assistance. With DFATD's support Development and Peace is helping to prevent the outbreak of contagious diseases manage acute and chronic diseases and promote mother and child health among 15 000 Syrian refugee and 5 000 Lebanese host and vulnerable families. Project activities include: (1) providing primary health care services to 20 000 Syrian refugees and vulnerable host community members through four mobile clinics and six health care centres; (2) conducting awareness sessions on health issues benefitting 2 600 women; (3) distributing personal hygiene kits to 12 000 households; and (4) building the capacity of 50 local health staff.

The expected immediate outcomes for this project are: (1) increased access to quality primary health care services for Syrian refugees and host communities; (2) increased basic primary health care knowledge and health-seeking behaviour; and (3) strengthened local capacity of health staff to deliver sustainable services in an emergency context in Lebanon. The expected intermediate outcome is reduced vulnerability of crisis-affected people especially women and children.