Lead, Innovate, Serve: A Visual History of the American University of Beirut’s First One Hundred and Fifty Years represents a collaborative expression of love for AUB in celebration of its 150th anniversary. AUB and Ras Beirut in 150 Years of Photographs represents a beautiful documentation of the changing face of the neighborhood and its evolution over time. The book's preface outlines the process through which the photographs are arranged as well as the book's evolution from the original exhibit. It also follows Bliss and Hamra streets, and includes views of the American University of Beirut campus as it has evolved through the years. The photographs reflect a diverse mix of people and place, focusing on views of Ras Beirut running along the sea-front from Raouche to Jal-al-Bahr and along the Corniche to Manara and 'Ayn al-Mreisseh. Two years on, this book represents an extended appreciation of the connections and the relationship between the American University of Beirut and its community over the past 150 years. The images, capturing so many of the changing faces of the university and its neighborhood, were drawn from a wide range of sources including both private and public collections, and various institutional archives. Local and international actors are required to mobilize and coordinate efforts to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, and to mitigate its impact amongst the vulnerable refugee populations globally.ĬOVID-19 Epidemic Refugee Syria Vulnerability.AUB and Ras Beirut in 150 Years of Photographs began as a photographic exhibition organized by AUB's Neighborhood Initiative and Jafet Library in celebration of the university's 150th anniversary. Mathematical modeling simulations we conducted illustrated that even modest increases in transmission among Syrian refugees could result in a large increase in the incidence and cumulative total number of infections in the absence of interventions.In conclusion, while the young age structure of the Syrian refugee population might play a protective role against the scale and disease-burden severity of a potential COVID-19 epidemic, the epidemic potential due to several vulnerability factors warrants an immediate response in this population group. The relatively high prevalence of non-communicable diseases in this population could also affect the severity of the disease among those infected.
Poverty, stigma, and fear of legal consequences are contextual factors that further exacerbate this vulnerability. We found that the high levels of crowding within Syrian refugee households and among those in informal tented settlements, the inadequate water supply and sanitation, limited use of masks, inadequate access to health care, and inadequate community awareness levels are vulnerability factors that directly impact important parameters of transmission dynamics, leading to larger epidemic scale. Here, we use quantitative insights of transmission dynamics to outline risk and contextual factors that may modulate vulnerability of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to potentially large COVID-19 epidemics.Syrian refugees live in close contact with the host community, and their living conditions are favorable for epidemic spread. However, testing of this population remains limited and exposure levels are high given dire living conditions and close interaction with the host community. While the country is currently experiencing substantial COVID-19 epidemic spread, no outbreaks have been reported yet among Syrian refugees. Lebanon, a middle-income country with ongoing political turmoil, unstable economic situation, and a fragmented and under-resourced health system, hosts about one million Syrian refugees since 2011.