WHO Regional Director Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari congratulates the African Region on becoming wild poliovirus-free
25 August 2020 - Today, the independent Africa Regional Certification Commission certified WHO's African Region as wild poliovirus-free after 4 years without a case. Finally, the world can breathe a sigh of relief as the scourge of wild poliovirus is certified eradicated from the entire African Region. This historic milestone marks the...
Statement by Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director, on World Humanitarian Day
19 August 2020 – Today, on World Humanitarian Day, I would like to acknowledge the bravery and dedication of humanitarian aid workers and heath staff across the Eastern Mediterranean Region and beyond. Health workers and humanitarians in our Region work under some of the most challenging contexts in the world, where many countries are facing...
Statement by WHO's Regional Director on the search for a COVID-19 vaccine
19 August 2020 – Recently, we reached another grim, global milestone, with more than 21 million cases of COVID-19 reported. In our Region, we are on the brink of reaching 2 million cases. But still, it is never too late to turn the outbreak around. There is a lot of hope on the discovery of an effective vaccine for COVID-19, and a lot of news and...
Statement by WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean on the deaths of children in Syria’s Al Hol camp
Cairo/Damascus, August 13, 2020 - The World Health Organization is appalled and saddened to learn of the deaths of 8 children under the age of 5 in Syria’s Al-Hol camp. These deaths are reported to have occurred within 4 days and due to different conditions, including underlying malnutrition, dehydration from diarrhoea, internal bleeding, heart...
Lebanon press briefing statement
12 August 2020 – Thank you for joining us for the regional press briefing on the health situation and response to the Beirut blast. Once again, we express our sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones, and to all those who have been injured. People in the city and across the entire country are still reeling from the impact of the blast...
WHO requires US$ 15 million to support immediate Beirut blast response and ensure vital health and disease prevention activities are maintained
Cairo/Beirut, August 6, 2020 – As the public health impact of the Beirut blast becomes clearer, WHO is calling for US$ 15 million to cover immediate emergency trauma and humanitarian health needs and ensure the continuity of the response to COVID-19 across the country. “We are particularly concerned about overburdened hospital and health...
Statement by WHO's Regional Director on standing with the people of Lebanon following deadly Beirut blast
6 August 2020 – Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, our Region was plagued by emergencies. More than 70 million people were directly or indirectly affected by political conflict or natural disasters and in need of humanitarian aid. In the past 6 months, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, the Region was impacted by another...
Plane carrying WHO trauma and surgical supplies arrives in Beirut, Lebanon
5 August 2020, Beirut, Lebanon – A plane carrying 20 tonnes of WHO health supplies has landed in Beirut, Lebanon, to support the treatment of patients injured by the massive blast that occurred in the city on 4 August. The supplies will cover 1000 trauma interventions and 1000 surgical interventions for people suffering from injuries and burns...
Africa closes in on one million COVID-19 cases
Brazzaville/Cairo, 30 July 2020 – COVID-19 infections in Africa will exceed one million cases in the coming days as the pandemic surges in several hotspot countries. In a little more than 3 weeks, the number of cases on the continent almost doubled to 889 457, with 18 806 deaths. Overall, the pandemic is accelerating with the number of new cases...
Statement by WHO's Regional Director on the need for continued vigilance during the COVID-19 pandemic
29 July 2020 – Today, 29 July, marks exactly 6 months since the first COVID-19 case was reported in WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region. We saw slow initial progress after the first cases were identified in February, but then witnessed an acceleration in May and a peak in cases by the end of June – most likely due to countries relaxing social...
