WHO, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean

Science, Information & Dissemination

WHO EMRO - Research promotion and development newsletter, October 2016

Research Promotion Newsletter

July 2021

» Research and COVID-19 response

Incident Management and Support Team (IMST) research and knowledge management pillar

Incident Management Support Team for the COVID-19 response

The research and knowledge management pillar of the IMST aims to enhance the conducting, availability and relevance of ethical research on COVID-19, share lessons learnt from the experiences of countries and, in collaboration with other pillars of the IMST, provide strategic, operational and technical support to enhance national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its achievements in all areas, both at regional and country levels, have made the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean a central player and a global asset in successfully responding to the pandemic.


WHO Solidarity Trial

WHO expert groups recommended mortality trials of four repurposed antiviral drugs — remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, and interferon beta-1a — in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Primary analyses examined in-hospital mortality in the four pairwise comparisons of each trial drug and its control showed that such regimens had little or no effect on hospitalized patients, as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation, and duration of hospital stay. Hospitals and clinicians from Bahrain, Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia were enrolled in the Solidarity Trial and data were shared through the global Solidarity Trial platform.

» Read more


WHO Unity studies

WHO, in collaboration with technical partners, has developed several standardized generic epidemiological investigation protocols branded as UNITY studies. These studies aim to support national public health and social measures, promote the international comparability of research and address gaps in current knowledge regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO extended technical and financial support in the provision of standardized testing kits to Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territory, Pakistan, Syrian Arab Republic, Somalia, Tunisia and Yemen. As of April 2021, 15 studies from these countries were implemented in the Region. This includes sero-epidemiological studies among the general population, health care workers, pregnant women and neonates.

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WHO health workers study

WHO is coordinating a global nested case-control study of health workers exposed to confirmed COVID-19 patients. Its objectives include characterizing virus transmission patterns, risk factors for infection, updating infection prevention and control measures, and reducing secondary SARS-CoV-2 transmission within health care settings. The study is being implemented in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syrian Arab Republic. It is expected that data collection will be completed by the end of summer of 2021 and subsequent analysis and reporting will follow.

» EMHJ articles/commentaries on COVID-19

Ethics in scientific writing and journal publishing

Volume 27

Issue 5

Efforts to deploy COVID-19 vaccine in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region within the first 100 days of 2021

Prevalence of abuse against frontline health-care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in low and middle-income countries

Transition from pandemic to infodemic: an analysis of Turkish language COVID-19 YouTube videos

Issue 4

Research on health priorities: a regional agenda and its implementation in Jordan and Pakistan

Issue 3

COVID-19 pandemic: a unique opportunity to ‘build back fairer’ and reduce health inequities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

The COVID-19 pandemic: an opportunity to strengthen health systems in Afghanistan

Mass immunization and COVID-19: the need for continued primary health care

Issue 2

Developing a hospital preparedness checklist to assess the ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic

Issue 1

Air quality and health impacts in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: an eye on COVID-19 COVID-19 during the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic


Volume 26

Issue 12

Health for All by All’ during a pandemic: ‘Protect Everyone’ and ‘Keep the Promise’ of universal health coverage in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Why is COVID-19 more deadly among physicians than other health-care workers in the Islamic Republic of Iran?

Early responses to COVID-19 in Afghanistan

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among Pakistani residents: information access and low literacy vulnerabilities

Issue 11

Risk factors associated with worse outcomes in COVID-19: a retrospective study in Saudi Arabia

Issue 10

From adversity to resilience in the COVID-19 era: strengthening mental health systems in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Mental health: the forgotten aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic

Mental health status of health-care professionals working in quarantine and non-quarantine Egyptian hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: early quarantine-related anxiety and its correlates among Jordanians

Analysis of COVID-19 burden, epidemiology and mitigation strategies in Muslim majority countries

Issue 9

Coming together in the Region to tackle COVID-19

Models of maternity care for pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic

Blood coagulation parameters in patients with severe COVID-19 from Kermanshah Province, Islamic Republic of Iran

COVID-19 in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: testing frequency, cumulative cases and mortality analysis

Educational perspective for the identification of essential competencies required for approaching patients with COVID-19

» Capacity-building

TDR workshop on implementation research methods and ethics

TDR workshop on implementation research methods and ethics

The WHO Regional Office held a virtual workshop on capacity-building in tropical disease implementation research on 23–25 February 2021, in collaboration with the TDR Regional Training Centre, Institute Pasteur, Tunis, to: introduce the concepts of implementation research as it applies to diseases of poverty, share basic statistical analytical techniques, interpretation and presentation of tropical disease research outcomes, explain ethical principles in relation to research on human subjects, and provide necessary knowledge and skills to update TDR grantees’ project proposals.

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» Health research prioritization

Prioritizing health research in Jordan

Prioritizing health research in Jordan

On 15 February 2021, a virtual workshop was held on health research prioritization in Jordan. Participants included senior Ministry of Health staff, representatives of academia, United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector, and WHO staff. The workshop is part of a collaboration between WHO and the Ministry of Health of Jordan based on recent WHO guidance on systematic approaches for undertaking research priority-setting exercises.

» Read more


Prioritizing health research in Pakistan

Prioritizing health research in Pakistan

On 24 March 2021, a national workshop on health research prioritization was held in Islamabad, Pakistan. Participants included senior officials from the Ministry, Director-Generals of provincial ministries of health, senior faculty from academia, representatives of United Nations agencies and nongovernmental organizations, and WHO staff. The workshop is part of a collaboration between WHO and the Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination based on recent WHO guidance on systematic approaches for undertaking research priority-setting exercises.

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» Newly designated WHO collaborating centres

WHO Collaborating Centre on Case Management for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: The Dermatology Department of La Rabta Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, University Al Manar 2, Tunisia, was designated in November 2020 as a new collaborating centre.

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WHO Collaborating Centre on Health Ethics: The Salim El-Hoss Bioethics and Professionalism Programme, American University of Beirut Medical Centre, Lebanon, was designated in January, 2021, as the latest WHO collaborating centre on bioethics (following designation of new centres in Pakistan and Islamic Republic of Iran). The programme is an interdisciplinary resource for faculty, students, health care providers and policy-makers involved in bioethics education, research and consultation in Lebanon and the Region.

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WHO Collaborating Centre on Mass Gatherings: The Global Center for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Saudi Ministry of Health, Riyadh, was designated as a WHO collaborating centre in April, 2021. This centre is considered a global entity collaborating with WHO in the field of health and management of mass gatherings.

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» WHO calls for proposals

Health emergency preparedness and IHR

The WHO Regional Office and the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), in collaboration with the WHO Health Security Preparedness Department, announced a call for applications on “International Health Regulations and health security preparedness”. The deadline for submission of applications closed on 25 June 2021.

» Read more


Migration health

The WHO Regional Office, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), in collaboration with the WHO Global Programme on Health and Migration, announced a call for applications for “Migration health research” in February 2020 to support the generation of related evidence on migrant health needs, concerns and situations, especially implementation research of current programmes or activities focused on the needs of migrant populations. Project proposals from Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan and Syrian Arab Republic were selected for funding.

» Read more

» Non-WHO calls for proposals

The efficacy and mechanism evaluation of interventions for COVID-19
Closing date: 10 August 2021

CEPI expression of interest for sourcing serum or plasma from recovered patients for the development of working standards for each of the SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern
Open call

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization call for nominations for ICESCO prize for fighting COVID-19
Open call

Contact us

Research Promotion and Development Programme
Science, Information & Dissemination
World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean
WHO Street, extension of: Abdel-Razak El-Sanhouri Street
P.O.Box 7608, Nasr City (11371)
Cairo, Egypt
Email emrgorpd@who.int
Phone +202 22765348; 22765452
Fax +202 2670 2492 / +202 267 2494
Website http://www.emro.who.int/research

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