10 June 2016 – The World Health Organization condemns the attacks on 2 hospitals in Aleppo, Syria, on 8 June. The al-Bayan and al-Hakeem hospitals, located in the eastern part of Aleppo city, were together providing close to 9200 consultations and performing 173 major surgeries per month. The al-Hakeem hospital, a UNICEF-supported facility, is...

Joint statement by Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, and Dr Peter Salama, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa 2 June 2016, Amman/Cairo – As fighting and violence escalate across Syria, we risk losing the opportunity to vaccinate and save the lives of more than 1 million children. For...

30 May 2016 - WHO condemns the multiple attacks on 27 and 28 May 2016 on the Benghazi Medical Center in Benghazi, Libya. More than 600 patients and health workers were in the medical center at the time of the attacks. No casualties inside the center have been reported, although there are substantial damages to infrastructure. Benghazi Medical...

Plain packaging of tobacco products to reduce demand, save lives 30 May, 2016–Recent moves to introduce plain (standardized) packaging of tobacco products can save lives by reducing demand for tobacco products, say the World Health Organization (WHO) and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Secretariat (WHO FCTC). Plain packaging of...

23 May 2016 – WHO condemns the bombing of the Jableh National Hospital in Latakia province in Syria. Over 40 patients and accompanying family members were killed and 35 injured. An emergency doctor and 2 nurses also died in the explosion while 11 other health workers have been wounded.  Due to the damage, the hospital is currently not functional...

Baghdad, 19 May 2016 — The Government of Japan has generously provided US$ 3 million to support the work of WHO in Iraq. This contribution directly supports life-saving primary and secondary health care services in Duhok and the plains of Ninewa, where more than 600 000 people live. It will also assist in the prevention, early detection and...

20 May 2016 – Saving lives in a number of countries of the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region is a dangerous profession. Escalating conflict and the massive scale of humanitarian needs continue to place health care workers at great risk. Attacks against health workers and facilities in Afghanistan increased by 50% in 2015, and Syria is now the...

Sana’a, 9 May 2016 — With support from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, WHO continues to provide life-saving health care services to people affected by the conflict in Yemen. Funding from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre has allowed WHO to deploy 14 mobile teams to 5 governorates, offering integrated care to...

Cairo, 7 May 2016 – The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean held its fifth annual seminar on health diplomacy from 7 to 8 May 2016 in Cairo, Egypt. The seminar was first convened in 2012 as a regional initiative bringing together representatives of ministries of health and foreign affairs to explore the multidimensional...

3 May 2016 | Cairo – On the occasion of World Hand Hygiene Day, celebrated every year on 5 May, WHO urges health care workers to improve patient safety through following proper hand hygiene practices to reduce the number of health care-associated infections. The subject of this year’s campaign is surgical site infections, with particular focus on...