Maya Hassan

Bpharm, MPH, CPHQ

[Maya Hassan @MayaHas93393670]

It was a pleasure working with such motivating young ladies from @JohnsHopkinsIH on proposing a school-based mental health intervention targeting students affected by the 4th of August blast. The journey has just started 💃❤️🇱🇧🇱🇧#winningteam

[Mia Atoui @MiaAtoui]

Advocacy is a long and rugged road. It takes perseverance, patience, and a lot of faith in what you are advocating for.
After almost 13 years of advocacy by a multitude of partners working for better mental health and suicide prevention, #Lebanon's Minister of Health @RKNassereldine announced this week the declaration of September 10th as the National Day for #SuicidePrevention and #MentalHealth Awareness, in alignment with World Suicide Prevention Day.
With this declaration supported by Prime Minister @nawafsalam, Lebanon becomes a pioneer in the suicide prevention conversation, advocacy, and strategy in the SWANA region, just as it has been a pioneer in #mentalhealth strategy and programming through the vision and leadership of the @NMHPLebanon.
This day was made possible by years of community awareness and engagement, the establishment of the first national suicide hotline in the region in 2017, evidence-based data collected to guide service planning and delivery, years of research, and years of listening to what people need and striving to meet those needs.
This national milestone was made possible by the collective work of tens of partners: local and international organizations, government entities, hospitals, academic centers, and volunteers, all working towards one mission. It is dedicated to every family, every parent, sibling, friend, or partner who has lost a loved one to suicide. With this national day, we commit further to daily steps towards a Lebanon where we no longer lose a loved one to suicide.
This milestone is one more testament that #Lebanon is capable of achieving #healthcare outcomes at international standards, thanks to the caliber and commitment of its people.
I will follow-up with another post with the detailed decisions set out in the ministerial decree.
@embrace_lebanon @NMHPLebanon @WHOLebanon @AbaadMENA

[Mia Atoui @MiaAtoui]

#Lebanon has lived through 2 wars in 18 months. The ceasefire is 2 days old, and already being violated. The National Lifeline 1564 answered both wars. It hasn't stood down.
📌Our Flash Report documents what that looks like in data:
📞 Call volume +55% vs. 2024
📉 Suicide attempts down 66%
🚨 Mobile Crisis dispatches up 240% in one month
📍 Displaced callers from the South nearly doubled

📌The pre-war distress baseline in 2026 was already higher than the wartime peak in 2024. This population did not recover between wars. It entered 2026 still carrying 2024.
📌A ceasefire does not close the wound. Post-war periods carry their own risk, grief, isolation, economic collapse, unprocessed trauma.
📌The Lifeline is not a hotline that switches on during war and off during calm. It is permanent national infrastructure, absorbing the consequences of poverty, displacement, geopolitical conflict, and repeated trauma.
📌The data also shows what sustained investment makes possible. Help-seeking behavior rose from 48.5% to 80.8% before this war even began. That baseline saved lives. It took years, consistency, and resources to build.
The Lifeline exists because people chose to fund it, and volunteers give their time and spirits to answer every call.Earlier intervention. Broader reach. Contained acute risk. That is your return on investment.
The need is not receding. Neither should the support.
Full report available upon request🔗 @embrace_lebanon @NMHPLebanon #Lebanon #MentalHealth #NationalLifeline1564 #Embrace #CrisisResponse #HumanitarianHealth

[Mia Atoui @MiaAtoui]

After 8 years of relentless advocacy, the Lebanese Cabinet has officially approved the National Lifeline (1564) for Emotional Support and Suicide Prevention operated by @NMHPLebanon at the Ministy of Public Health, in partnership with @embrace_lebanon as a toll-free service.

Today, more than ever, as #Lebanon continues to grapple with the harsh realities of #war, access is no longer a privilege. It is a right, available to everyone, everywhere, any time.

This important milestone is a not a small one for a country like #Lebanon, and reprsents critical shift. It recognizes #mentalhealth as a national priority and core component of public health and protection.

This would not have been possible without the unwavering commitment of the National Lifeline team, and our more than 600 dedicated volunteers who have sustained this service 24/7 over the past 8 years.
To our partners and allies who advocated alongside us for so many years, your belief in this mission made this possible.

[Mia Atoui @MiaAtoui]

Here's what a few hours in the life of Lebanon's National Lifeline for Suicide Prevention (1564) sound like during #war time:

- A 23-year-old displaced mother from South Lebanon (Khyem) calling from inside a car in Saida (now known as the transit city) - where she is living with her 3 young children because shelters are full.
- An 88-year-old man displaced from Southern #Beirut calling to ask for basic assistance
- A young man calling from Southern Beirut, currently under attack, calling because he and his mother had nowhere safe to go.
- Another caller described feeling “مخنوق” — suffocated by the density, the noise, the uncertainty created by war.

And in the middle of all of this:
- A 16-year-old girl who attempted suicide
- A 23-year-old struggling with addiction after a suicide attempt yesterday
- A mother with cancer caring for a child with epilepsy while seeking help for her suicidal daughter
- A man who was about to end his life with shattered glass before picking up the phone

This is the daily reality of answering Lebanon’s National Lifeline (1564), where every call reflects the collision of our crises: war, displacement, poverty, chronic illness, addiction, and the silent toll on mental health.

In contexts like #Lebanon, a crisis hotline is much more than an emotional support line. It becomes a first point of access to the entire health and social protection system.
In a single shift today, our team provided:
- suicide intervention and safety planning
- emotional support during acute distress
- referrals for psychiatric care and medication
- shelter and humanitarian assistance referrals
- support for displaced families
- guidance for parents responding to suicide attempts
- connection to emergency services and NGOs

Behind each call is a trained responder, a volunteer, holding space for someone who may have nowhere else to turn, while silently living many of the same struggles themselves.
In times of war, mental health emergencies do not pause. They multiply, and set the stage for the long term psychological consequences that follow conflict.

Lebanon’s National Lifeline continues to operate 24/7, responding to hundreds of calls each month from people facing the most difficult moments of their lives.
Every call our volunteers answer, is a proof of why this Lifeline is essential to our national infrastructure, and must be protected and sustained.

[Mohamad Ghamlouch محمد غملوش @Mohamadgamloush]

يبقى الجنوب يا أفيخاي، شامخا عزيزا كريما

ترهيب #إسرائيل للجنوبيين متوقع، لا جديد

الجنوب، شوكة في حلق الكيان لن تخمد أبدا

#لبنان

[Censored Humans @CensoredHumans]

Greta Thunberg gives her first words after she was released from Israeli prison where she was beat and forced to kiss the Israeli flag. She says the story is not about them, the story is about Gaza.

[Rana Ayyub @RanaAyyub]

“I'm not scared of Israel. I’m scared of a world that has seemingly lost all sense of humanity”

[Al Jadeed News @ALJADEEDNEWS]

جورج عبدالله.. أهلا بك في وطن نزف كثيراً مذ ان غادرته قبل 4 عقود
@samarabukhalil

[Maya Hassan @MayaHas93393670]

@DonaldJTrumpJr

[ReemaNaisseh ريما نعيسه @RNaisseh]

أمنا 💔

شاركو فهذا صوتنا جميعا
Share …in the face of terror and injustice
#سوريا_الجديدة
#سورية
#Syrian
#UN

@UNarabic
@hrw_ar
@DonaldJTrumpJr
@realDonaldTrump
@SecRubio
@elonmusk
@TuckerCarlson

[Maya Hassan @MayaHas93393670]

@wiamwahhab أستاذ وئام ممكن تضل تنشر عن سوريا
نحنا بحاجة لصوتك

[ramia al ibrahim - راميا الابراهيم @ramiaalibrahim]

شوف هذه حقيقة مايقوم به عناصر الجولاني
ضمن ما يسمونها محاربة " الفلول "
قال دولة قال
#الساحل_السوري

[( أبو شربل) @abo_charbel14]

معظم عائلات الصنوبر قتلوا شبابها....
كلما دخل فصيل على نساء يقول:
له له مين قتلهم والله مامنرضى هيك.... ثم:
يقوم هذا الفصيل بسرقة البيت ويذهب!!!
على النساء أن تخلق موبايلات ودهب فهذا مايريدونه:
ذهب و موبايلات......... وقتل
هذه الرسالة كمئات تصلني تقهر الروح.....

[Maya Hassan @MayaHas93393670]

@DanaJournal ❤️❤️❤️

[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros]

We have lost touch with our staff in Gaza, with health facilities, health workers and the rest of our humanitarian partners on the ground.

This siege makes me gravely concerned for their safety and the immediate health risks of vulnerable patients.

We urge immediate protection of all civilians and full humanitarian access.

[Maya Hassan @MayaHas93393670]

Open satellite internet for #Gaza
#Starlinkforgaza

[Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis @DrLoupis]

Dear @elonmusk

🇵🇸 Gaza is under bombardment, the internet and of telecommunications have been cut off. They need StarLink immediately.

#starlinkforgaza

[sara..𓂆 @Saranajjam]

What’s happening in gaza right now is GENOCIDE ‼️
@elonmusk plz open #starlinkforgaza I always believe that you do not follow injustice despite the pressure, they need u
SPEAK UP!!
#GazaWar
#Gazabombing
#Gaza_Genocide

[Takeshi Okubo @TakeshiOkubo3]

تظهر هذه الصورة الجوية أن حرم الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت هو واحة تطل على البحر. من وجهة نظري، تصنف الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت كأجمل حرم جامعي في العالم. كما يتميز هذا الصرح الجامعي بنخبه من الاكاديميين الأقوياء ومستوى تعليمي عال، مما ساهم في شهره الجامعة لفترة طويلة كمهد للقيادة في المنطقه . من ناحيه اخرى ، أحب أن أرى العديد من القطط اللطيفة تسترخي بسلام في الحرم الجامعي.@AUB_Lebanon

[وقائع @waqa2e3]

الصحافية غدي فرنسيس: "كل ما نعمل لينك لنجمّع مصاري لسوريا، بيتوقّف بسبب العقوبات"

#وقائع