Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day. The first World Blood Donor Day was observed in 2004, which was followed by its designation as an annual global event by the fifty-eighth World Health Assembly in 2005. World Blood Donor Day is now celebrated each year throughout the world to raise awareness of the...

Dr Amina Barkat, Head of Neonatal Medicine and Resuscitation at Ibn Sina Children's Hospital of Rabat, Morocco, holds a newborn baby girl1 June 2020 –In an online conference on a Wednesday afternoon in May 2020, the background noise is particularly revealing. Shouts of children and gurgles of babies echo as women and men in Morocco adjust their...

From the Regional Directors of UNICEF, FAO, WFP and WHO Amman/Cairo, 27 MAY 2020 – “Governments and partners across the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) are working around the clock to protect communities from coronavirus disease (COVID-19). While these efforts are saving many lives, they are having a critical impact on food supply...

20 May 2020 – The current COVID-19 pandemic has shown us all the severe and unimaginable impact that a public health threat can have on individuals, communities and nations. We have often said that infectious diseases respect no borders, and that an outbreak in one country can threaten the health security of the Region and beyond. Today, we are...

A joint communiqué by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations, the International Association of Dental Students and the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation COVID-19 in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has become a global...

12 May 2020 - Today marks 134 days since the first case of COVID-19 was reported from China, and 105 days since the first case was reported from our Region. During this time, almost 4 million people around the world have been infected, including almost 300 000 people who have tragically died. Both in our personal and professional lives, all of us...

5 May 2020 – World Hand Hygiene Day will be celebrated on 5 May 2020. This year’s campaign theme, “SAVE LIVES: Clean your hands”, aligns with the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. The campaign aims to recognize nurses and midwives as front-line heroes who deserve acknowledgement, appreciation and protection, and to highlight their...

Collective action and commitment is the only way to mitigate the pandemic 2 May 2020 - To date, there are seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the south of Yemen, including two deaths, as declared by national authorities. No other cases have been officially reported to WHO, although we anticipate the virus is actively circulating throughout the...

28 April 2020 Dear colleagues and friends Ramadan Kareem. Thank you for joining us once more as we continue our collective fight against COVID-19. Over the past few weeks, this fight has become even more challenging with the appearance of the virus in countries such as the Syrian Arab Republic, Libya and Yemen. Decades and years of conflict —...

24APRIL 2020 | Cairo –  Any suspension of immunization services or hesitancy to use them during the COVID-19 pandemic will result in a resurgence of diseases that have largely been controlled thanks to safe and effective vaccines. That is the warning from WHO's Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean as World Immunization Week (24–30 April...