4 September 2023 – Led by the Ministry of Health in Bahrain, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, a 3-day workshop on the first phase of self-evaluation of the second round of the joint external evaluation (JEE), was held in Manama, Bahrain, on 3–5 September 2023. Under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), WHO Member...

The Healthy Cities Programme was first implemented in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region in 1990 to facilitate commitment on health and well-being at the highest level, and to unify vision and commitment to public health development for healthier and sustainable environments where people live, work, and thrive.  A healthy city strives to create...

8 June 2023 – World Breastfeeding Week, held during the first week of August, is supported by WHO, UNICEF, ministries of health and civil society partners. Over the last decade, there has been a 10% increase in exclusive breastfeeding globally to 48%, which is remarkable progress. However, to achieve the target of 70% of infants exclusively...

11 July 2023 – The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean held a 3-day training workshop for WHO technical staff on scientific writing and the development of policy briefs in Cairo, Egypt, on 4–6 July 2023. Group photo of the participants at the scientific writing and development of policy brief workshop The workshop aimed to equip...

2 August 2023 – A 2-day mission was conducted in Muscat, Oman, on 30–31 July 2023 to exchange knowledge, experiences and best practices on the use and implementation of the workload indicators of staffing needs (WISN) tool between the 2 neighbouring countries of Bahrain and Oman. The mission follows a WISN pilot workshop that was conducted in...

18 June 2023 – This year, on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, and in special celebration of the 75th anniversary of WHO, the WHO Country Office in Bahrain released a call for poster presentations to nursing, medical and paramedical students as part of a “Call to action poster campaign”. The goal of the campaign was to help raise awareness of the...

7 June 2023 – The Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly (WHA) was held from 21 to 30 May 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland under the theme of saving lives, driving health for all. WHO’s 75th anniversary was also marked and the role of the Organization in improving public health since its inception. Bahrain's Minister of Health Dr Jaleela bint Alsayed...

6 April 2023 – A high-level technical meeting and ministerial conference on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health in small island developing states (SIDS) was co-hosted by WHO and the Government of Barbados, on 17–19 January 2023. The meeting brought together experts and government representatives from across global small island state networks,...

6 April 2023 – Led by the Ministry of Health in Bahrain, and facilitated by the WHO Country Office, a 3-day training of trainers simulation exercise (SimEx) for preparedness for health security took place on 20–22 February 2023. The training was supported by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, and with the Gulf Center for...

6 April 2023 – With a focus on empowering healthy environments in sustainable societies, the WHO healthy cities initiative creates frameworks to enable the promotion of health and equity within the foundations of urban development, receiving recognition for multisectoral empowerment and innovation on the part of communities to improve health and...