4-year-old Omar after his recovery from leishmaniasis 5 December 2022, Aleppo, Syria – A 4-year-old child should be able to play outside with his friends. But not Omar, due to a large lesion on his cheek delivered by a sandfly carrying leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis is serious disease, spread by sandflies which bite uncovered parts of the body. It...

24 November 2022 – This week, the world is marking World Antimicrobial Awareness Week with a call for policy-makers to encourage health workers and the general public to adopt best practices to prevent the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections and for all sectors to encourage the prudent use of antimicrobial medicines and to...

Amman/Beirut/Cairo, 17 November 2022 – Today, the Arab Network for Early Childhood, the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization released a new report entitled “Advancing nurturing care in humanitarian settings: Overview of workshops in Arab countries”. The report shares learnings from a...

13 November 2022 – Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. It is estimated that environmental factors take the lives of around 13 million people every year. Global warming is influencing weather patterns, causing heat waves, heavy rainfall and droughts.  The Greater Horn of Africa is facing an unprecedented, acute...

Nurse Lotfiye Samra checks a patient’s temperature at the Rjail Arbaeen Primary Health Centre in Saida, Lebanon, which functions as a site for influenza-like illness surveillance. Respiratory samples are collected from symptomatic patients and tested for influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses. Information from this routine...

2 November 2022 – Good afternoon and welcome to today’s press briefing on the latest updates on cholera outbreaks in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.  After decades without a single case of cholera, the outbreaks that have been recently declared in Lebanon and Syria mark an unwelcome comeback in those countries.  In fact, this is part of a...

13 October 2022, Cairo – Multisectoral action that leaves no one behind and involves innovative youth-driven partnerships is central to achieving Health for All by All. This is what participants agreed during a panel discussion on “Leveraging partnerships for collective and transformative actions to achieve Health for All by All” during the 69th session of...

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful H.E. Dr Mai Al Kaila, Minister of Health of Palestine and Chair of the 69th session of the Regional Committee, Brothers and sisters from the media, We have just concluded the 69th session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, held between 10 and 13 October 2022. The...

13 October 2022, Cairo – The consensus among participants in the panel discussion “Supporting Member States to accelerate the implementation of health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through joint action by UN country teams (UNCTs)”, held during the 69th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, was that...

13 October 2022 – Qatar set a goal of achieving at least one WHO Healthy City accreditation by 2022 only to get there ahead of schedule when, in 2021, both Doha and Al Rayyan were awarded the designation. The Healthy Cities Programme makes health a central concern in all aspects of city administration, from transportation to waste management. In Somalia,...