Interregional meeting: Advancing Universal Health Coverage and Health Security through Private Health Sector Engagement
9 July 2024 – If we are to achieve the health-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, we need a paradigm shift, based on a new, more collaborative approach. This must harness the resources of all health actors and ensure that the private sector is also engaged in efforts to achieve public health goals. On 15–17 July 2024, the WHO...
Regional Director's statement during the press briefing on emergencies in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
26 June 2024 When we held our first press briefing on health emergencies after I took office about four months ago, I could not have foreseen the escalation of violence in our Region. The situation has grown more relentless and unforgiving, while life-saving aid remains out of reach for too many whose lives depend on it. In Gaza, the health...
WHO concerned about escalating health crisis in West Bank
15 June 2024, Jerusalem/Cairo/Geneva -- WHO remains concerned about the escalating health crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, where attacks on health infrastructure and increased restrictions on movement are obstructing access to health care. A spike in violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since...
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2024: ensuring older people’s safety in emergencies
15 June 2024, Cairo, Egypt – On World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2024, the spotlight is on older people in emergencies. Older people often face mobility issues, chronic health conditions or social isolation –some of the factors that can hinder their ability to access aid, evacuate safely or receive timely medical care and support services. The chaos...
Unsafe food makes 100 million people ill each year in the Region
6 June 2024, Cairo, Egypt – “Prepare for the unexpected” is the theme of the sixth World Food Safety Day, marked today by the United Nations. Food businesses, governments and consumers can all help prevent food contamination and foodborne illnesses. Food must be protected at every stage from production to consumption. WHO and the Food and...
Better antimicrobial use data to accelerate action on antimicrobial resistance
3 June 2024 – Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing public health threat in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and globally. The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) project estimates that 123 834 deaths in the Region in 2019 were directly due to sepsis caused by resistant bacteria, while a further 341 097 deaths were associated...
Awards for outstanding contributions to public health to be presented at Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly
30 May 2024, Geneva, Switzerland/Cairo, Egypt – Eight awards are to be presented at the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly to people and institutions from around the world for their outstanding contributions to public health in their countries and globally. Four of the awardees are from the Eastern Mediterranean Region. A special awards...
Engaging journalists on promoting IPC and hand hygiene to save lives
29 May 2024 – World Hand Hygiene Day (WHHD) has been marked for 16 years to advocate for hand hygiene as an evidence-based, practical approach to infection prevention and control (IPC) in health care settings. This helps limit the risk of epidemics and pandemics and control the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Countries the world over,...
High-level panel discussion on health in Eastern Mediterranean Region explores ways to move from crisis to opportunity
28 May 2024, Geneva, Switzerland – A partnership event to highlight health challenges and opportunities and the WHO journey in the Eastern Mediterranean Region was held in Geneva on 25 May, ahead of the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly. Hosted by the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy and fellow senior...
WHO welcomes funding support from KSrelief for critical health response operations in Sudan, Syria, and Yemen
25 May 2024 – The World Health Organization (WHO) today signed funding agreements with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) valued at USD 19.4 million to jointly address global health challenges including in emergency responses. The support will reinforce WHO operations and programmes in three countries namely Sudan, Syria,...