The WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean concluded its 59th session by calling upon Member States to provide support to alleviate the suffering of refugees and internally-displaced persons in the Syrian Arab Republic and neighbouring countries. It also expressed solidarity for Afghanistan and Pakistan in their efforts to eradicate...

Members of the Regional Committee attended yesterday the opening of the 59th session in the Regional OfficeWith a heavy agenda full of important health issues, and the features of a new health strategy in the Region, the 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean opened yesterday, Monday 1 October 2012, at the...

As of 25 September 2012, no additional cases of acute respiratory syndrome with renal failure due to infection with a novel coronavirus have been reported to WHO. WHO is continuing investigations into two recently confirmed infections identified as a novel coronavirus. Today WHO issued an interim case definition to help countries strengthen...

In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, under-5 mortality dropped by 41% between 1990 and 2011 The number of child deaths in the Eastern Mediterranean Region has dropped to less than 1 million for the first time ever, according to estimates for 2011 recently released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. In the Eastern...

23 September 2012 – On 22 September 2012, the United Kingdom (UK) informed WHO of a case of acute respiratory syndrome with renal failure with travel history to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The case is a previously healthy, 49-year-old male Qatari national that presented with symptoms on 3 September 2012 with travel history to Saudi Arabia prior to...

In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, suicide accounts for an estimated 36 000 deaths annually“Light a candle near a window”, is the call made by the International Association for Suicide Prevention, in collaboration with WHO, on the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day 2012. It is intended as a message of hope and understanding for those who...

Prevention and control of NCDs is essential for health and developmentUnder the auspices of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, is organizing an International Conference on Healthy...

Australia’s High Court historic verdict supports tobacco control effortsBuilding on Australia's landmark decision to dismiss the tobacco industry's legal claim against the country’s new restrictive tobacco marketing laws, Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, urged all governments in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to pursue and...

Health officials are baffled as they try to identify the cause and a cure for nodding syndromeFor the first time, researchers and scientists from different parts of the world have arrived at a standard case definition for nodding syndrome, previously known as ‘nodding disease’ or ‘head nodding disease’.  Consensus was reached during the first...

A Somali woman hands her severely malnourished child to a medical officer of the African Union Mission in Somalia. Source: UN/Stuart Price.19 August 2012 – World Humanitarian Day is celebrated annually on 19 August to recognize those humanitarian workers who face danger and adversity and to honour those who have lost their lives or been injured...