Awareness is key to reducing antibiotic resistance  10 November 2016 – The second World Antibiotic Awareness Week will take place from 14 to 20 November 2016, with "Antibiotics: handle with care" as the slogan of this year’s campaign. The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that humanity is heading for a post-antibiotic era, in which common...

Sana'a, 6 November 2016 — More than half of all health facilities in Yemen are closed or partially functioning, and there are critical shortages in medical doctors in more than 40% of all districts, according to a new WHO health system survey. Final findings from WHO’s Health Resources Availability Mapping System (HeRAMS*) in 16 out of Yemen's 22...

27 October 2016 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has released approximately US$ 1 million from its internal emergency funds to support the ongoing response to the cholera outbreak in Yemen. Since the outbreak was announced by the Ministry of Public Health and Population on 6 October, a total of 1184 suspected cases of cholera, including 6...

26 October 2016 – The World Health Organization, together with national health authorities and health cluster partners, have accelerated preparedness and response measures for internally displaced persons from Mosul by prepositioning 46 mobile medical clinics, 45 mobile health teams and 26 ambulances in a number of prioritized areas around the...

17 October 2016 – At least 5 people, including 2 children and 2 women, were reportedly killed when a primary health care centre in Kafr Zita, northern Hama governorate, Syria, was hit on 15 October. At least 10 others were injured, including 2 health staff.   The centre sustained major damages and is temporarily out of service. Hundreds of people are now...

Sana'a, 7 October 2016— Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population has officially announced the occurrence of 8 cholera cases among population in one of the areas of Sana'a city. The stool samples of these cases were tested positive for Vibrio cholerae. The cases were admitted to Al-Sabeen Hospital in Sana'a in the first week of October and...

6 October 2016 – The World Health Organization congratulates Dr Mahmoud M. Fikri on his nomination as Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region during the 63rd Regional Committee, which has just concluded in Cairo, Egypt.  The nomination will be submitted to WHO’s Executive Board which meets in January 2017 when the election for the...

Cairo, 4 October 2016 – During the first day of the Regional Committee meeting, WHO’s Regional Director Dr Ala Alwan presented his annual report on the work of WHO in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in 2015 and into 2016 to ministers of health and senior level policy-makers attending the 63rd Session of the Regional Committee in Cairo, Egypt. The...

3 October 2016, Cairo – Ministers of health and high-level representatives of the 22 countries and territories of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region and health partners are attending the 63rd session of the Regional Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt. The Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean is WHO’s decision-making body in the Region. It...

UN Photo/B Wolff92% of the world’s population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO-recommended limits 27 September 2016 | Cairo – A new World Health Organization (WHO) air quality model confirms that 92% of the world’s population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO-recommended limits. The situation is even worse in...