7 October 2021, Cairo ‒ As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the 68th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean will be held virtually for a second year. Health ministers and high-level representatives of the 22 countries of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, along with partner organizations and civil society, will connect online to discuss priority public health issues from 11 to 14 October 2021.

WHO’s Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, and Minister of Health and Population of Egypt and Chair of the 67th session of the Regional Committee H.E. Dr Hala Zayed, will address the opening session.

The Regional Committee will discuss a range of key priority public health issues, including health emergency preparedness and response, integrated disease surveillance, building resilient communities and the growing epidemic of diabetes, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic featuring prominently on the agenda.

"While we discuss critical public health issues, we need to remember that the highest attainable standard of health is the fundamental right of every human being. And in our effort to make our vision of health for all by all a reality on the ground, we should also remember that health can act as a bridge for peace. In previous years, we have successfully advocated for health as a bridge to peace and negotiated ceasefires for vaccination campaigns and other life-saving activities. And as we move forward in our collective response to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and address ongoing emergencies facing our Region these efforts have now become even more critical," Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari stated.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unprecedented global crisis and for WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, home to almost 700 million people and some of the world’s highest income countries but also fragile, conflict-affected states, characterized by crises and internal displacement. The pandemic has exacerbated human suffering, turned the lives of millions upside down, and significantly affected the health, economic and social sectors. The diversity of the Region has presented many challenges for the COVID-19 response and has also served to underline the importance of engaging communities in supporting the various public health and social measures undertaken to manage it.

"I would like to refer to the work of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, established in 2019 as an independent, expert Commission, and its report "Build back fairer: achieving health equity in the Eastern Mediterranean Region". The report provides detailed analysis of the status of health inequities and a list of actionable recommendations, putting social justice and health equity at the centre of all action to address the social determinants of health," said Dr Al-Mandhari.

The pandemic has exposed gaps in investment in health emergency preparedness leaving the world’s health systems largely unprepared for the outbreak of a pathogen with pandemic potential. These gaps, if left unaddressed, ill-equip us to deal with the threat of future epidemics and pandemics. A plan of action for ending the COVID-19 pandemic and preventing and controlling future health emergencies in the Region will be presented to the Regional Committee for its consideration and potential endorsement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also underlined the need for effective public health surveillance. Detecting potential public health threats early and monitoring disease morbidity and mortality is critical for guiding effective disease prevention and control measures, and in many countries, surveillance systems are fragmented across disease-specific programmes, weakening their ability to detect potential threats. WHO is proposing an integrated approach to disease surveillance for the Region that will use a single electronic platform to improve both the efficiency of health information systems and their effectiveness in the use of data to guide decisions, detect epidemics early and ensure more effective priority-setting, planning, resource allocation, monitoring and evaluation, potentially avoiding large-scale economic disruption from future epidemics and pandemics.

Diabetes also remains a significant public health challenge for the Region. It has reached epidemic proportions, affecting more than 55 million adults, and its social and economic impact is growing. The rise in prevalence is putting a strain on the capacity of countries to guarantee regular and affordable access to essential medicines and appropriate care, and disruptions to health services as a result of the pandemic have underlined the need to restore, maintain and strengthen health services to prevent and control diabetes as part of national COVID-19 strategic preparedness and response plans.

Between 1 January 2020 and 30 July 2021, WHO mobilized US$ 445 million in support of COVID-19 preparedness and response activities, with 57% of this funding sourced at the country level. Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Yemen received the largest portion of funding, while 4 large donors – the World Bank’s International Development Association, Germany, Kuwait and within the European Commission, the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, – have provided 54% of all income received during the pandemic. This is in addition to the generous contributions of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre to fund humanitarian actions in Yemen. A total of 41 donors have generously contributed funds to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in the Region and WHO gratefully acknowledges the support of all of its donors.

Polio eradication remains a prominent item on the agenda of the Regional Committee this year. As of 8 August 2021, only one case of a child with wild poliovirus had been reported in Afghanistan and one in Pakistan – far fewer than the number of cases registered in the same period last year (34 in Afghanistan and 63 in Pakistan). However, significant and widespread disruptions to immunization and other public health initiatives as a result of the pandemic have set back polio eradication efforts, in addition to insecurity, vaccine hesitancy and bans on immunization campaigns in large areas of Afghanistan.

Representatives of the Regional Committee will also be informed of progress on climate change, tobacco control, implementation of the International Health Regulations, maternal newborn, child and adolescent health, hospital care, development of national institutional capacity for evidence-informed policy-making for health, implementation of the Political Declaration of the Third High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases, mental health and the public health response to substance use.

The work of WHO at the regional level is governed by the regional committees. The Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean convenes every year in October and is attended by all countries of the Region to formulate policies, provide oversight for regional programmes, hear progress reports, and consider, revise and endorse new initiatives. It adopts resolutions and makes decisions that guide the work of the Regional Office and country offices for the coming year.

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68th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean website