Although the city will continue to rebuild post-explosion, Afya has done all we can for the medical community.
The Afya Foundation’s last shipment of medical supplies arrived at hospitals across Beirut, Lebanon in the last week of January 2021. Afya had been delivering medical supplies to Beirut hospitals since the August chemical explosion. These hospitals included: The American University of Beirut Medical Center, The Lebanese American University Medical Center, Hotel Dieu de France, and The Rafik Hariri University Hospitals.
The August 4th explosion killed 190 people and, according to the World Health Organization, left 6,500 injured and 300,000 homeless.
Beirut was already facing civil unrest, a socio-economic crisis, and the coronavirus pandemic when its surviving hospitals and clinics found themselves overwhelmed by people seeking treatment for injuries caused by the explosion and patients with the virus.
Afya has over a decade of experience responding to disasters across the globe, which made us uniquely suited to support the recovery effort in Beirut. We sprung into action and over the course of the last five months, Afya packaged and shipped over 200 pallets of vital medical supplies valued at over $2 million.
Thanks to people like high school student Emma Centini who organized a Bike-A-Thon with her school to raise $1800 for Afya’s efforts in Beirut and to partners like Anera and the American Task Force for Lebanon we managed to steadily support the medical needs in the city post-explosion while dealing with a health crisis in our own backyard.
Afya is confident that we are leaving Beirut’s medical community in better shape than we found it: with the supplies needed to continue to care for those injured and to handle the pandemic.
Help us prepare for the next disaster! If you or an organization you are a part of wishes to contribute in-kind donations of medical supplies and equipment to the Afya Warehouse, check out our donation page.
February 5, 2021
Marissa Roberge, Social Media Intern