Nine-month-old Amena al-Helou's skin sizzles as the surgeon cauterises an incision in her chest, beginning a heart operation at a south Lebanon hospital to save the Syrian refugee's life.

She is just one of dozens of refugees treated each year by Lebanon's leading paediatric heart surgeon Issam al-Rassi, who each week sets aside a day to operate on Syrian and Palestinian refugees.

But for all his efforts, including on occasion waiving his fee, Rassi's work runs up against the reality that many refugees simply cannot afford the life-saving treatment Amena is receiving.