21 November 2019 – In light of recent comments on social media, the World Health Organization (WHO) clarifies that it does not engage with tobacco companies and does not support visits to tobacco company facilities in any way. WHO’s Constitution, rules, and regulations, including its Framework of engagement with non-State actors, prohibit...

20 November 2019, Cairo, Egypt – The World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean is pleased to announce the establishment of a Commission on Social Determinants of Health to lead action on the social determinants of health in the Region with the aim of achieving health equity. It aims to establish a comprehensive evidence...

14 November 2019, Casablanca, Morocco – The fifth meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance (EMARIS) network, organized by WHO and hosted by the Ministry of Health of Morocco, is taking place this week in Casablanca, Morocco, from 12 to 15 November. This year’s meeting also coincides with the Second Scientific...

11 November 2019 ‒ World Antibiotic Awareness Week is a global campaign – celebrated this year from 18 to 24 November – to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance, and encourage best practices among the general public, health care workers and policy-makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is a...

17 October 2019, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran -- The WHO Regional Committee concluded its 66th session, held in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, with the endorsement of 6 important resolutions covering critical health issues that Member States had discussed over the past 4 days, and endorsing the WHO Regional Director’s annual report on the work...

Statement from Dr Ahmad Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director and Mr Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Regional Director Tehran, 16 October 2019 ‒ “Very recently during the United Nations General Assembly and in Astana last year, we came together to reaffirm that primary health care is the foundation for achieving universal health coverage and the health-related...

Tehran, 15 October 2019 ‒ The 66th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean was inaugurated today in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, in the presence of HE Dr Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the...

9 October 2019, Cairo ‒ Health ministers and high-level representatives of the 22 countries of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, partner organizations and civil society will take part in the Sixty-sixth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, from 14 to 17 October 2019. The...

Tehran, 9 October 2019 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered 3 fully equipped mobile clinics to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran. “These mobile clinics will provide health services and save lives in communities beyond health centres and health posts both in good times and during the...

FAO and WHO call for action: addressing poor nutrition and obesity requires action along the whole food chain, from farm to fork 23 September 2019 – Levels of overweight and obesity are rising across all ages in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East and North Africa Regions. In many middle- and high-income countries, half of adult women...