In an alarming statement, UNICEF announced that Lebanon’s population could soon lose access to essential access to clean water.
In its statement, UNICEF warned that 4 million people, mostly constituted of children and women, could be cut off from safe water supply in the next coming days if immediate action is not taken.
The organization also said that a number of crucial hospitals and health centers have already lost that access and are now resorting to contaminated water, which poses a risk to people’s life. This has mainly been due to electricity shortages.
UNICEF had issued a warning in July announcing that 71% of Lebanese people could run out of clean water by the end of summer.
Yet, their warnings went unheeded by those in charge of the country.
Losing access to safe water brings with it a surge in diseases that are water-born and a certain increase in Coronavirus cases.
Lebanon already has a water crisis where 70% of all freshwater sources are contaminated by unrelated sewage from homes and businesses to the point where they are almost unlivable for marine animals.
Lebanese people have also been witnessing a shortage of drinkable bottled water in different areas of the country, which is now an added threat to many lives.