23 March 2021, Cairo – On 24 March 2021, World Tuberculosis Day will be commemorated globally under the theme “The Clock is Ticking”. The theme serves to remind us that we are running out of time to act on the commitments to end tuberculosis (TB) made by world leaders in the the Political Declaration of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB, the...

23 March 2021 – Escalating violence in Aleppo, northwest Syria, has claimed innocent lives and further devastated homes and one critical health facility.  On 21 March 2021 at around 9:00 am, Al-Atareb Hospital in Atareb, Aleppo was hit by artillery shelling, killing 6 people and injuring 17, including patients and medical personnel. The hospital...

Ramallah and Gaza City, 22 March 2021 – On 17 March, Palestine received the first shipment of 37 440 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and 24 000 doses of the Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX Facility as part of the first wave allocation. These vaccine doses were transferred to the Ministry of Health’s ultra-cold chain and vaccine...

The Commission The Commission on the Social Determinants of Health in the Eastern Mediterranean was established in 2019 by the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean as an independent, expert Commission. The Commission has conducted an extensive review of health inequities in the Region and has produced a report "Build back fairer: achieving...

Cairo, Egypt, 21 March 2021- WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean is working with countries to safely prepare for mass gathering events in 2021 as part of its ongoing support to strengthen national capacities for prevention, detection, and response to the public health events, including COVID-19. “Especially in the context of...

21 March 2020, Cairo, Egypt – As COVID-19 continues to take toll on people’s lives in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, vaccines delivered through the COVAX Facility have arrived in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Jordan, the occupied Palestinian territory, Tunisia, Somalia, and Sudan with a total of more than 1.9 million doses delivered. The coming days will mark...

Tunis, 17 March 2021 – Tunisia received today the first batch of 93 600 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility. This delivery is part of a first wave of arrivals that will continue during the year, with the goal of vaccinating 20% ​​of the population in Tunisia. “This shipment represents an important step in the fight...

16 March 2020, Cairo, Egypt – WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean held its first ministerial meeting of 2021 with 13 out of 22 ministers of health and WHO representatives in the Region. The meeting, led by WHO Regional Director Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, focused on reviewing the COVID-19 situation, response, and achievements at country level,...

Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population H.E Dr Hala Zayed, who was elected as co-chair, making her interventions during the inaugural meeting Cairo, 16 March 2021 – The inaugural meeting of the Regional Subcommittee on Polio Eradication and Outbreaks was convened today by WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ahmed...

16 March 2021 – The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean will be organizing a webinar to launch the Report of the Regional Commission on Social Determinants of Health on Wednesday, 31March 2021 at 11:00-13:00 (Cairo time, UTC+2). In this webinar, the Report of the Commission "Build back fairer: achieving health equity in the Eastern...