Lebanon

Lebanon is located in the Middle East, with a western coastline along the Mediterranean. It shares borders with Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south. Prior to the Lebanese Civil War (1975–90), Lebanon had a largely modern society and infrastructure. As center of international banking for the region, it was sometimes called the “Switzerland of the Middle East.” Recovery from the war was slow, and marked with political and economic hardships. In the summer of 2006, Lebanon was drawn into a brief war with Israel, leading to the fresh destruction of much of the country's infrastructure.

The population is 3,925,000 and growing at a rate of 1.198 percent annually. The birth rate is 18.08 per 1,000 population and the death rate is 6.1 per 1,000 population. Median age is 28.3 years, with more than half the population under the age of 25. Life expectancy [Page 1003]is currently 70.67 years for males and 75.77 years for females. Gross national income ins $6,180, with about 28 percent of Lebanese living below the poverty line. Political instability and the 2006 war with Israel has hampered economic growth.

Lebanon carries a double burden of disease, with communicable and non-communicable diseases both impacting on the people's health. Statistics on the communicable disease burden are incomplete, but it is known that infectious or parasitic disease cause 8.3 percent of deaths annually. In 2006, there were 644 cases of measles. There were also 57 cases of malaria, all of them imported from other countries. HIV/AIDS has an adult prevalence rate of 0.1 percent, and there are about 700 new cases of tuberculosis each year.

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of mortality, causing 46.3 percent of all deaths, or 305 out of every 100,000. Ischaemic heart disease is responsible for about half those fatalities. Care and management of heart disease is highly advanced in Lebanon, and the country has the one of the world's highest rates of cardiac catherization. Undefined “chronic” disease accounts for 22 percent of mortality, external causes or injuries for 13 percent, and cancers for 10 percent.

The 42-day war with Israel in the summer of 2006 displaced 1 million Lebanese. Close to 2 million were left with little or no clean water. Almost 1,200 were killed and 5,000 were wounded. Hospitals were pushed to the breaking point by the influx of casualties, and quickly ran low on supplies, power and equipment. There were also charges that the Israeli Army deliberately targeted ambulances and hospitals. Many facilties are still struggling to rebuild.

Children also continue to suffer from the aftermath of war. About 50 schools were totally destroyed in the bombing, and 300 (about 10 percent of all schools) were damaged. A third of the wounded were children. Aid organizations have been running programs to give children a place where they can gather to play or share experiences, while at the same time allowing aid workers to monitor health and nutrition levels.

Almost 90 percent of health care is provided by the private sector. They offer a high level of service, but it is focused primarily on curative, not preventative care. Coordination between the private sector and the state has improved in recent years, but there is still little coordination between entities particularly in the gathering of statistical data or epidemiological surveillance. The number of physicians working in Lebanon is growing at 8.3 percent annually, but there is a severe shortage of nurses and paramedical staff. The World Health Organization noted in 2003 that there were 23.1 physicians, 11.6 nurses, and 39.7 health workers per 10,000 people.

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