A man rides a scooter next to a damaged building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in central Beirut, targeting what Israel said is a Hezbollah-affiliated bank, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 15, 2026. REUTERS/Claudia Greco

WHO releases $2 million in emergency funds to Lebanon, Iraq and Syria

· Yahoo News

March 15 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization said on Sunday it had released $2 million ‌from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) to ‌support the health response in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria amidst ​the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

The conflict has triggered a large-scale population movement, the WHO said last week, estimating that more than 100,000 people ‌in Iran have ⁠relocated, and up to 700,000 people in Lebanon have been internally displaced.

$1 million ⁠has been allocated to Lebanon to strengthen the WHO's emergency coordination through the Public Health Emergency ​Operations Centre, ​scale up trauma ​care, reinforce disease surveillance, ‌and procure and distribute essential medicines and medical supplies, the agency said in a statement.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Iraq and Syria have each been allocated $500,000 to support emergency coordination and mass-casualty management, procure and distribute essential ‌medicines and supplies, provide health ​services for displaced populations, and ​strengthen disease surveillance ​and community outreach, it added.

"At a ‌time when health services ​are already facing ​significant challenges, support is essential to sustain frontline health workers and maintain critical care ​services," Hanan Balkhy, ‌WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean ​said.

(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham in Bengaluru; ​Editing by Alexander Smith)