Lebanon’s first cholera case since 1993 was recorded on 6 October in the rural northern governorate of Akkar. According to the Ministry of Public Health, there are now 803 suspected and confirmed cases, with at least 14 deaths reported.

Children are most at risk from the deadly disease, with those under 14 making up more than 50% of cases.

With the country steeped in an unprecedented socio-economic crisis – plunging three-quarters of its population into poverty, with frequent power cuts and a worsening cash crisis deteriorating living conditions for millions of people – communities are being forced to rely on poor water sources to survive, as bottled water costs soar three to five times higher than last year.

Years of underinvestment in water and sanitation infrastructure have also left systems and services ill-equipped to cope. (ILKHA)