Lebanon houses approximately 1.5 million refugees, and the continued influx of unvaccinated individuals in the country has caused several vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks, causing some organisms to become endemic such as measles and influenza.
The COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the decline in vaccination coverage because many resources were redirected to responding to the pandemic. A recent survey revealed that 37% of non-Lebanese people believed that COVID-19 vaccines are not safe, people were primarily concerned with long/short-term side effects, shortened clinical trials, and the effects of new technologies.
Students created an Emergency Response Plan for Vaccine-Preventable Disease Outbreaks in Refugee Camps to reduce the stress of these diseases on refugees in Lebanon. This would be done through vaccination campaigns that aim to improve the understanding of the health implications of vaccination and choosing to remain unvaccinated and work toward reducing fear of vaccinations. The emergency plan also aims to guide public health organizations with information on vaccination safety and how to stay updated with dosing schedules. The students’ Communications Plan harnesses tools developed by various UN agencies to increase awareness of VPDs, vaccine safety, and vaccination schedules among residents through community training seminars and transparency.
The Concept of Operations focuses on the development of an outbreak contingency plan through the improvement of public health surveillance and detection of infections, utilization of early warning systems, planning, redundancy measures in staffing and supplies, and creating an effective health promotion campaign. The outbreak response plan drafted by the students includes a step-by-step plan that aims to reduce mortality and morbidity from VDPs and is supplemented by an evaluation and monitoring plan.
Click here to read the full emergency plan.