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Message from Dr Hanan Balkhy Regional Director WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region on the occasion of the World Tuberculosis Day
24 March 2024 Today, on World Tuberculosis Day, we commemorate the ongoing efforts to combat this infectious disease, which tragically claims over 1 million lives annually – 7% of which occur in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Each year, this day serves as a reminder that ending TB is within our reach. Prevention is indeed better than cure;...
Opening remarks by Dr Hanan Hassan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, on the occasion of celebrating the World Tuberculosis Day
24 March 2024 Thank you for gathering here today on World Tuberculosis Day. As one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world, TB remains a pressing challenge to all WHO regions. In September 2023, the United Nations General Assembly convened its second high-level meeting on tuberculosis, at which Member States renewed their commitments...
World Tuberculosis Day 2024: many more TB cases could be prevented
24 March 2024, Cairo, Egypt – Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the world’s deadliest diseases, although it is both preventable and curable. Today, on World Tuberculosis Day, WHO and partners worldwide unite to renew the commitment to end the global TB pandemic. Every year, 10 million people globally fall ill with TB. An infectious disease that...
Regional Director statement on visit to Al-Arish and Rafah, Egypt
22 March 2024, Cairo, Egypt – I recently visited Al-Arish Governorate and the Rafah border crossing point in Egypt, where I met with the Deputy Governor of North Sinai Major General El-Ghandoor, senior officials from the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) and Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), and other health partners working on the health response to...
Regional Director statement on Sudan
15 March 2024 – I have just returned from Sudan, my first mission to an emergency country in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region since I took office 5 weeks ago. I saw first-hand the devastation that decades of fragility, and nearly a year of brutal war, have wreaked on the country. “We lost many things this year that we will never be able to...
Unprecedented number of Syrians in need of aid after 13 years of war
16 MARCH 2024, CAIRO, EGYPT – Thirteen years of conflict have left 16.7 million people requiring humanitarian aid and 15 million people - 65% of the population – in need of health assistance in Syria. This is the largest number of people in need of humanitarian aid since the conflict began in 2011. “There are currently more Syrians in need of aid...
Sudan to respond to new emergence of variant poliovirus in Red Sea State
A child is given the oral polio vaccine during a polio vaccination campaign, Sudan, November 2020. Photo credit: WHO/WHO Sudan 11 March 2024, Port Sudan, Sudan – Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) will launch a polio vaccination campaign in April 2024 in response to a new emergence of variant poliovirus type 2 reported in January 2024. It was...
Childhood cancer control: pushing for progress in WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region
11 March 2024 – Globally, more than 400 000 children and adolescents aged 0–19 years are diagnosed with cancer every year. Latest Global Cancer Observatory estimates for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region show that there were about 36 000 new cases of paediatric cancers and 16 500 deaths in 2022. Experts from every country and territory of the...
WHO and Japan sign US$ 8 million agreement to support patients from Gaza Strip in Egypt
11 March 2024, Cairo, Egypt – A US$ 8 million grant agreement signed yesterday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Japan will provide essential support for critically ill patients evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Egypt for medical treatment. The agreement was signed by His Excellency Mr OKA Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, and Dr Nima...
Address by Dr Hanan Balkhy Regional Director WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region on the occasion of the commemoration of International Women’s Day 2024
8 March 2024 Every year on the 8th of March, we mark International Women’s Day, and the entire month of March is dedicated to recognizing women’s achievements and advances despite numerous challenges. This year’s theme is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”, a call which is crucial that we embrace during these times of uncertainty. In a world...
