7 February 2014 - WHO has recently been notified by the Ministry of Health and Population, Egypt, of an increase in seasonal influenza activity. In some governorates, severe respiratory illnesses have been reported, of which a few were laboratory confirmed as influenza A (H1N1) pdm 2009. To date, 25 deaths associated with influenza have been...

4 February 2014 – World Cancer Day is observed every year by the World Health Organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the Union for International Cancer Control on 4 February. The slogan for this year’s Day is "Debunk the myths", which builds on the success of last year's campaign. The 2014 campaign focuses on dispelling four...

Every day, thousands of local and international public health workers, community members, and volunteers on all sides of this conflict risk their lives to deliver basic services, including and especially immunization, to all Syrians. Photo credit: Tarik Jasarevic/WHO.3 February, Homs, Syria – The queue was already formed when three volunteer...

In 2013, WHO with the generous support from its donor partners successfully reached 6 million beneficiaries alone in Syria26 January 2014 - WHO requires a total of US$ 246 million in 2014 to continue providing life-saving health services to the growing number of increasingly vulnerable Syrians across the Region. As the Syrian conflict enters its...

23 January 2014 – Against the backdrop of peace talks on Syria which opened yesterday in Switzerland, senior United Nations humanitarian officials have joined international aid organizations calling for the protection of Syrian children, 11,000 of whom have been killed and 4 million forced to flee their homes over the past three years. “We...

Syrian children have the right to be vaccinated against polioDamascus,13 January 2014 – The representatives of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Syria strongly condemn the interruption of a polio immunization campaign in Al-Raqa Syrian governorate due to the intense fighting among groups. WHO and...

17 December, 2013 — The Ministries of Health of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government, together with WHO, UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other health partners launched Iraq's national acceleration plan for maternal and child health on 17 December 2013. The 3-year acceleration plan delineates cost-effective...

6 December 2013 - The push to immunize all children against polio has been hampered by the ongoing crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic. WHO and UNICEF have appealed to all parties to cooperate, including through temporary pauses in hostilities where needed, to allow vaccination campaigns to take place and for all children to be protected. When Dr...

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was started by RoadPeace in 1993 17 November 2013 – The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was endorsed by the United Nations on 26 October 2005 as a global day to be observed every third Sunday in November each year, making it a major advocacy day for road traffic injury...

UNICEF13 November – A comprehensive outbreak response continues to roll out across the Middle East following confirmation of the polio outbreak in the Syrian Arab Republic. Seven countries and territories are holding mass polio vaccination campaigns with further extensive campaigns planned for December targeting 22 million children; in a joint...