Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct:24:100802.
doi: 10.1016/j.jemep.2022.100802. Epub 2022 May 16.

The impact of COVID-19 and the economic crisis on Lebanese public health: Food insecurity and healthcare disintegration

A C Corriero  1 , A T Aborode  2   3 , M Reggio  4 , N Shatila  5
Affiliations

The impact of COVID-19 and the economic crisis on Lebanese public health: Food insecurity and healthcare disintegration

A C Corriero et al. Ethics Med Public Health. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Background: The economic crisis in Lebanon, a middle-income eastern Mediterranean country, has been threatening the health of the local population. This review will look at the impact of the economic crisis and COVID-19 on health and healthcare in the country, discussing food insecurity and water shortages, and the hospital crisis for what concerns medications, electricity shortages and workforce issues.

Methodology: Peer Reviewed Literature produced between 2015 and 2021, indexed in Pubmed, Scopus and Google Scholar was used to compile this short report. News and governmental reports, alongside reports of NGOs like Médicins sans frontières were also collected; these were analysed for the production of this short report.

Results: The challenges and public health consequences caused by the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon were identified and commented upon. From food insecurity and water shortages, to the Beirut port explosion and the 2021 lack of fuel and electricity, it was found that the health and well-being of the Lebanese population is currently being threatened from many points of view. With food inflation rates rapidly escalating in 2020 and peaking at 441% in October, new-born and infant milk being non-existent and 20 hour power cuts daily, the situation in Lebanon does not seem to be improving. The country needs to receive international help to relief the population from these synergetic crises.

Conclusion: Long-term economic reforms with an emphasis on employment should be at the forefront of the government's priority list. International help should also be provided to prevent disasters like food insecurity and electricity shortages from posing threats to the lives and the wellbeing of the people in Lebanon again.

Keywords: COVID-19; Economic crisis; Food insecurity; Lebanon; Public health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart for Accuracy Narrative Review.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of the interactions of Lebanon's Multiple Crises.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. BBC News Lebanon scraps the WhatsApp tax as protests rage. BBC News. 2019 [Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50095448. Accessed on August, 18 2020]
    1. Action Against Hunger . 2021. Lebanon and Covid-19 exacerbate impossible living situation of Syrian refugees. [Available on: https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/story/lebanon-covid-19-exacerbates-a.... Accessed on 5th May, 2021]
    1. UNHCR . 2021. UN: Syrian refugees in Lebanon struggle to survive amid worst socioeconomic crisis in decades. [Available at: https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2021/9/615430234/un-syrian-refugees-leb.... Accessed on 26th September, 2021]
    1. Reuters . 2019. Lebanon crisis wreaks havoc on Syria's war-torn economy. [Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-economy-lebanon-idUSKBN1Y31I7. Accessed on 29th November, 2019]
    1. BBC News Lebanon protests: how WhatsApp tax anger revealed a much deeper crisis. BBC News. 2019 [Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50293636. Accessed on June 15, 2020]

LinkOut - more resources