More than 40% of Syrian refugees in Jordan are children below the age of 11 (source: UNHCR). Photo: WHO16 June 2013 – Zeina* and her twin sister fled Syria to Jordan almost five months ago with their six children, all under the age of 11. “In Dar’aa, my home town, there was nothing. Our hospitals and health centres were almost all closed down....

A single unit of donated blood can save up to three lives. Many patients requiring transfusion, particularly in developing countries, do not have timely access to safe blood.3 June 2013 – This week, the tenth anniversary of World Blood Donor Day will be celebrated under the slogan "Give the gift of life: donate blood". The Day, which is...

27 May 2013 – This year, the theme of World No Tobacco Day is a comprehensive ban of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. For decades, marketing activities have been shown to increase the consumption and sale of virtually any product, yet the tobacco industry continues to deny the link. The industry claims that tobacco marketing...

Deana Blanchard was only 17 years old when her life was tragically cut short on a busy Cairo road9 May 2013 – One October evening, the life of 17-year-old Deana was cut short on a road in Cairo. Deana was with four friends going to a birthday party. They had just gotten out of a taxi and were trying to cross the Nile Corniche in Maadi, a busy...

More than 270 000 pedestrians die on the world's roads each year. We are all pedestrians, but many transport systems neglect our needs.5 May 2013 – This year, the second Global Road Safety Week, starting on 6 May 2013, is dedicated to pedestrian safety. The Week aims to highlight the need to improve pedestrian safety worldwide, to generate...

Health care-associated infections usually occur when germs are transferred by health-care providers’ hands touching the patient4 May 2013 – Every year, a global campaign, known as Hand Hygiene Day, takes place on 5 May 2013 to raise awareness of the importance of hand-hygiene as a key approach in preventing disease. The slogan of this year’s...

One of the biggest challenges facing the priority malaria-endemic countries of the Region is the limited coverage and poor quality of diagnostic testing, treatment and surveillance systems, which are the pillars of the existing global strategy to fight malaria.22 April, 2013 – This week, countries across the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region are...

Vaccination Week aims to promote one of the world’s most powerful tools for health – the use of vaccines to protect, or immunize, people of all ages against diseaseFollowing the remarkable success of prior Vaccination Weeks, WHO and partners will be celebrating the fourth Vaccination Week in the Eastern Mediterranean Region from 24 to 30 April...

People need to know why raised blood pressure is dangerous, and how to take steps to control it8 April 2013 – The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean celebrated World Health Day on 7 April, the theme of which was high blood pressure, or hypertension. WHO is calling for intensified efforts to prevent and control hypertension, which,...

Detecting high blood pressure is the first step in preventing and controlling it4 April 2013 – This year's slogan for World Health Day, celebrated annually on 7 April is: control your blood pressure... control your life. High blood pressure is one of the most important contributors to heart attacks and stroke – which together are the world’s...