Outreach programmes and projects in the local community to improve or promote health & wellbeing

Programmed

BAU students volunteered in an event hosted by the NGOs Foodblessed and Tahaddi to celebrate mother's day. They helped in preparing and serving lunch for underprivileged families, set up and organize the place and decoration.

Foodblessed is a local hunger relief initiative run by a group of volunteers with a passion and will to fight hunger in Lebanon.

Tahaddi (facing together the challenge of poverty) is a non-governmental organization serving socially vulnerable families and victims of conflict and discrimination, regardless of their nationality, religion or social background.

RCED hosted a meeting of the USAID funded project “Water Project in Lebanon (LWP)” with the municipalities in Central Bekaa including the Union of the Municipalities, and the municipalities of Bwarej, Majdl Anjar, Anjar, Marj, Kab Elias, and Meksse. LWP is a five-year program funded by USAID with the objective to increase access to clean, reliable and sustainable sources of drinking water for Lebanese citizens, and in this way avoid water-borne diseases.

The objectives of this meeting were:

  • Strengthening and improving service delivery and resource management at the water authorities.

  • Enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of the public water utilities and responding to water issues arising from the influx of Syrian refugees.

  • Promoting better water governance to assure the long-term protection of Lebanon’s water resources.

  • Improving private sector participation in water management .

During the interactive meeting, LWP managers and consultants Drs. George Akl, Nabil Amasha, and Marwan Rizkalla introduced to participants the o bjectives and framework of LWP.This was followed by an open discussion on the needs of every municipality through which technical and capital assistance to enhance capacities and upgrade the infrastructure for better services and protection of natural resources were emphasized.

The role of civil society and women as important stakeholders in water management and decision making is stressed. At the end of the meeting participants expressed the need to foster synergies and coordination between the Lebanese government, local authorities, private sector and NGOs towards a more efficient implementation of integrated actions .

As usual every year and a week away of Eid al-Adha, Student Activities Department organized a donation campaign with the title ‘Be part of making a family in need…

Happy this eid’ included the university’s branches in Beirut and Debeyh. Cash, Clothes, toys and shoes were collected and then distributed to needy families.

Aiming at sharing knowledge of new findings and advancement in medical and health care field and services for all community in Lebanon, the Research center for Environment and Development jointly with the Litani Association for Medical Doctors and the Faculty of Medicine, BAU organized several monthly workshops in the academic year 2022. Topics covered were Cancer Study Cases; Bariatric Endoscopy; Carotid Stenting Subarachnoid Bleeding from Diagnosis to Therapy; Kawasaki Disease; Recurrent Orbital Edema & Erythema; Management of Acute Ischemic Stroke; Recent Advancement in the Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysms among others.

Prominent specialists and surgeons as well as pharmaceutical and health care experts discussed the various aspects of each of these themes and topics of national and local concern. A range of national and international pharmaceutical companies such as MSD; STADA; VIAVI Med and ACINO who sponsored the events provided the audience with information of recent products.

A Sports-day event took place in the main campus of Beirut Arab University. The event was organized by the committee of Students Activities –Faculty of Medicine to support all kinds of activities and sports. During the event, soccer teams of all levels played against each other, and at the end of the day, the team representing the third-year medical students won the competition.

Many doctors from the faculty staff and people from the local community attended to cheer on the students, and at the end, Prof. Sayyed Soliman and Dr. Bilal Azakir distributed prizes to the members of the winning team and presented them with a trophy.

The Faculty of Health Sciences along with all faculties at BAU participated in the BDL Beirut Marathon organized by Beirut MARATHON Association and “BANQUE DU LIBAN” on Sunday 8 November 2015. FHS faculty members and students participated as a part of the medical team that offered medical services for runners in case of injuries.

Under the supervision of Dr. Fatima Saleh (Associate Professor at the MLT department) and Mrs. Dima Kreidieh (Lecturer at the Nutrition and Dietetics), students from both departments had participated in the Cancer Awareness Village event hosted by Barbara Nassar Association in partnership with the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. It took place at Forum de Beyrouth for three consecutive full days in 8th, 9th & 10th of February 2019.

The MLT department chose the topic of “Skin Cancer” to raise public awareness about how to prevent and detect it early.

The Nutrition and Dietetics Department chose the topic of “Breast Cancer” to raise the awareness on how obesity may increase the incidence of breast cancer and leads to poorer outcome during treatment as well as the increase of rate of mortality in patients with breast cancer. Students have also explained the importance of weight management in these patients.

A certificate of appreciation was offered to the students in the last day of the event, as an recognition for their valuable participation in the Cancer Awareness Village under the theme of “Love Heals”.

A long road for a great experience. “Action Against Hunger” with whom Nutrition and Dietetics Senior students joined two weeks ago was not only a great learning experience, but also a blast to get to know. A humanitarian organization placing action plans to decrease the causes and effects of hunger worldwide had placed a 4-day session education plan in which we were glad to attend 3 of them. The plan revolved around nutrition education to pregnant and lactating Syrian female refugees in Baalbek camps. It was an absolute pleasure to get to know more on the works of this organization through this ground community work and learn the simplified manners of communication with individuals whose level of education in nutrition is affecting their health. This activity was undertaken through the Community Nutrition Course in the undergraduate program of Nutrition and Dietetics. Through this experience, we had an inside of the reality that they are living, and the challenges in investing efforts to alleviate the dominating malnutrition.

For the occasion of the World Health Day, the Human Rights Center at Beirut Arab University HRC-BAU with the support of the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO LNCU released a campaign during for April-May 2021.The campaign aimed to highlight youth role and their engagement in bringing attention to the importance of global health issues and how they are engaged in the efforts to minify the Pandemic impact especially on social and health levels.

It also intended to give a tribute to the young medical and healthcare staff/students as well as to raise awareness on the COVID-19 pandemic from a social and educational perspective.

The campaign encompassed several activities such as an awareness video, which included messages from medical students who were and still in the front lines during the pandemic and the vaccination phase. It also held a Webinar entitled “Youth and social cohesion during the Pandemic”.

The campaign also included a Digital Wall of Heroes and Heroines that was shared on the university’s website and social medial platform as well as university screens on campus where it presented photos of BAU’s young medical front-liners with their messages to the community.

The physical therapy department - Faculty of health sciences - Beirut Arab university in collaboration with Sawa organization for development and aid visited one of the Syrian refugees camp in Dalhamieh - Bekaa region. Students gave awareness sessions on proper body ergonomics for agriculture and construction workers, and gave some practical demonstrations on relevant stretching exercises.

For women a specific awareness session for healthy child development timeline and markers on common developmental delays requiring medical consultation. Afterwards, students performed entertainment activities for the children of the camp.

Ad Hoc

The Faculty of Dentistry at Beirut Arab University organized an activity Entitled "Improving the Oral Health of Preschoolers" this activity was prepared and performed by the fifth year students as a partial fulfillment of the “Community Service” course at Makassed khaled Bin Al Walid (KBWH) Kindergarten.

The purpose of this activity is to involve the children in the Oral Health Awareness campaign and to allow them to discover the BAU Mobile Dental Clinic and get to know more about the facilities of the dental office.

The dentists presented a PowerPoint presentation related to healthy activities that affect their oral health like oral hygiene measures, oral habits and appropriate diet. Teachers as well had the opportunity to be exposed to effective treatments they can use in regards to their own oral health and their kids as well.

In frame of the Lebanese community effort and response to Beirut massive explosion that occurred on 04/08/2020. As Beirut Arab University is committed to public engagement and social responsibility during the uncertain times, several initiatives on students’ level were organized hand in hand with more than 150 proud BAU students from all faculties and majors.

After performing a damage survey on affected areas the Student Activities Department In collaboration with different BAU departments, BAU HRC, and social clubs such as the DSC, and the Lebanese Red Cross youth department organized a repair campaign that targeted damaged public schools in Beirut.

In response to the Beirut explosion, the BAU community was mobilized to help NUSANED in conducting value-based needs assessment of the affected areas. Four volunteers from the Faculty of Architecture – Design and Built Environment have been involved for the past week gathering data and supervising repair works. NUSANED is a humanitarian, community-based and volunteer organization, supporting communities based on a non-biased and egalitarian process.

The Nursing Students at the Faculty of Health Sciences – Tripoli Branch have assisted in clearing debris from downtown Beirut – Al Nahar Newspaper Region and Karantina Hospital. Students of the faculty from other departments are helping “Beirut Hope” Association in packing and distributing food items to the families affected by Beirut Blast.

Professor Maha Dankar, a lecturer in the Nursing Department in Tripoli, is organizing and supervising these activities and coordinating the work between students to help needy people and ensure the efficiency of their work.

An Awareness Campaign was launched by the Faculty of Pharmacy organized by Dr. Suzanne Nasser and Dr. Khaled Abdel Galil for enriching the students’ learning experiences and developing their skills in community engagement.

The Campaign targeted Students from Grades 9 to 12 in different public schools distributed in various regions since they are the vulnerable victims of the dangerous drugs abuse such as GHB (Gamma Hydroxybutyrate). Senior pharmacy students used PowerPoint Presentations and interactive discussions to enlighten and spread awareness between the students.

The Faculty of Dentistry at Beirut Arab University moved the mobile clinic to the areas affected by port explosion especially to Karantina area. In cooperation with Beirut Municipality, forty patients were examined during the past two days. The mobile clinic is still performing its tasks and providing free consultations for patients in an initiative from Beirut Arab University to help people affected by the explosion.

The Faculty of Health Sciences at Beirut Arab University-Tripoli Campus organized an awareness-raising activity entitled "A Healthy Lifestyle during Childhood, a Great Reward in Adulthood", in cooperation with the Health Sector of the Arab Union for Specialized Women. About 150 middle-school students from various Public Schools in Dennieh District participated in this activity.

This Awareness Campaign aimed to fight obesity among children by raising their awareness towards the components of healthy food and the nutrients necessary for the health, growth, and protection against diseases. The activity was held at the Social Welfare Compound in Seer Dennieh and included an interactive lecture given by students of the Nutrition Department at Beirut Arab University, presenting the risk factors that lead to obesity and diabetes, healthy eating patterns and types of sports suitable for this age group.

They also discussed the importance of having breakfast and the need to stick to three meals during the day. The lecture was followed by a game in which the school students were divided into groups to examine their understanding of the information presented to them in an entertaining and informative way. The activity ended with the distribution of prizes to the participants.

Beirut Arab University started a preventive campaign to participate in the national efforts to avoid the spread of Coronavirus in the Lebanese community and among the ten thousand students and their families.

Students from the Faculty of Medicine volunteered with the Lebanese Ministry of Health to reinforce its teams at the airport and the crossing borders. Interns and nursing students in all departments also continue their mission at Rafik Hariri University Hospital which was counted a hospital to contain Coronavirus cases. As well, some of them volunteered to work in the specialized isolation section for epidemiological cases.

The Faculty of Health Sciences launched awareness campaigns in schools where students volunteered under the supervision of specialized professors to train school students on preventive measures and urge them that these measures shall be part of their daily routine to prevent Coronavirus and other viruses.

Professor Amr Galal El-Adawi, President of the university, stressed that “the national mission of the university requires that students according to their specializations participate in the efforts to contain Coronavirus under their professors’ supervision and it shall continue to provide the necessary expertise and specializations”.

The President also held a meeting with the medical and health affairs committee to follow up the preventive measures from infectious diseases. The meeting discussed measures implemented at the university buildings. The committee also agreed to raise awareness among all students, professors and employees in all university campuses and follow up all the issues that requires public protection from all viruses especially corona virus.

In this framework, sterilization teams continue their efforts on various campuses and university buildings. As well, the students of medicine and health sciences began to communicate directly with all students to raise their awareness about prevention and distribute publications.

The Faculty of Health Sciences at Beirut Arab University – Tripoli Campus organized a public awareness seminar about “Viruses of the Era”. It consisted of four lectures delivered by Dr. Hassan Mallat “Specialist in Bacterial and Infectious Diseases”, Dr. Mona Youssef “Specialist in Bacterial and Infectious Diseases”, Dr. Sara Mina “Assistant Professor in Microbiology and Immunology” at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Rosie Metri “Assistant Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics” at the Faculty of Health Sciences in the presence of doctors and students.

The Dean of Faculty of Medicine Professor Naglaa Mashaal hosted Dr. Mahmoud Hassoun, Chest Diseases and Intensive Care Specialist at Rafik Hariri Governmental Hospital for a lecture about “Coronavirus”. He pointed that this virus is from the historically present virus family and it is called corona because its shape under the electronic microscope is similar to the crown.

It comes from the animals but bats are the most important incubator for this virus. He also talked about the symptoms of this disease, the most vulnerable people, death toll, and the countries that the virus is spread in according to the World Health Organization.

Dr. Hassoun advised the necessity of protection from infection transmission stressing the importance to abide by the preventive measures to reduce the disease outbreak. The most important measures are washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, cover the mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing, consult a doctor at the appearance of the main symptoms of the disease, such as coughing, sneezing, fever, shortness of breath in addition to staying at home to avoid transmitting the infection to others.

Dr. Hassoun concluded his awareness lecture that there is no need to panic. We must be careful but not worried because despite the rapid spread of the virus, the death toll is still relatively low.

In line with the mission of Beirut Arab University to serve the Lebanese Community, and based on its partnership with the health sector in Lebanon, the Nursing students at the Faculty of Health Sciences- Tripoli Branch are participating in the National COVID-19 Pandemic Vaccination Program organized by the Ministry of Public Health. Students volunteered to assist the Medical Team at providing the vaccinations at Albert Haykel Hospital; which was approved by the Ministry of Public Health as a vaccination center in North Lebanon.

The team includes a group of administrators, clinicians and nurses assigned to follow up the vaccinated individuals during and after their vaccination process. However, this students’ commitment represents one of several activities organized by the Faculty of Health Sciences since the beginning of COVID - 19 pandemic, in order to raise the awareness about the disease and assist the nursing staff, especially during the peak of the deficiency of nurses.

Furthermore, the students of the Faculty are spreading massive awareness campaigns towards the importance of vaccination, in order to encourage the citizens, for achieving the required community immunization in a short period of time.

What is worth to be noted that the students of the Nursing Department will be endorsing their voluntary support action throughout all The National Vaccination Campaign period in Lebanon.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, the faculty of pharmacy at BAU continues its pivotal contribution to community services. As soon as the vaccination campaign was launched by the Ministry of Public Health at Rafic Hariri University Hospital (RHUH), pharmacy students promptly presented at the vaccination site on daily basis.

Pharmacy students had paramount aid in the preparation of Pfizer vaccines including dilution and reconstitution to be given to eligible candidates. Moreover, the pharmacy students will continue to provide their support and contribution throughout all the national vaccination campaign period in Lebanon.