26 November 2024, Cairo/Kabul – WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy recently concluded a 3-day visit to Afghanistan where she met with the country’s de facto authorities, health officials and humanitarian partners to discuss critical health priorities. Central to the discussions were Afghanistan’s efforts to...

16 days of activism to end violence against women The 16 Days of Activism campaign is an annual call for action to End Violence Against Women. In February 2000, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. We have made some progress since then, but sadly we...

24 November 2024, Cairo, Egypt – Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a major threat to public health, economic growth and development in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Misuse and overuse of antibiotics is a key driver of AMR. At almost 25% higher than the global average, the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region has the...

More health workers and patients have been killed proportionally in Lebanon than in Ukraine and Gaza 22 November 2024, Beirut, Lebanon – Since 7 October 2023, 47% of attacks on health care – 65 out of 137 – have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient in Lebanon, as of 21 November 2024. This is a higher percentage than in any active...

17 November 2024 – Every day, at least 300 people in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region lose their lives due to road crashes, and many more suffer injuries and disabilities. So, we never forget the faces behind the numbers, World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was started in 1993. In 2005, the United Nations endorsed it as a global...

Breaking barriers, bridging gaps: uniting to strengthen diabetes well-being. 14 November 2024, Cairo, Egypt – World Diabetes Day, commemorated annually on 14 November, provides an opportunity to raise awareness about diabetes as a global public health issue and emphasize the collective and individual actions needed to improve the prevention,...

12 November 2024, Doha, Qatar – The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an initiative of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, will host its seventh edition of the WISH Summit (WISH7) on 13 and 14 November 2024. Over 2 days, more than 3000 health policy-makers, innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers and...

Dear colleagues, Good morning from Cairo, Egypt. 11 November 2024 - Since our last briefing on health emergencies, the conflict we feared would escalate has intensified, leading to a devastating deterioration in the Middle East, particularly in the occupied Palestinian territory and Lebanon. The Famine Review Committee has warned of imminent...

10 November 2024 – My first visit to Somalia as Regional Director took place as the country stands at a crossroads. On the one hand, Somalia is reeling from more than 3 decades of conflict and instability, extreme weather events, disease outbreaks and regional fragility. On the other, the country is poised for change. Somalia’s leaders are...

6 November 2024 – The second round of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip was completed yesterday, with an overall 556 774 children under the age of 10 being vaccinated with a second dose of polio vaccine, and 448 425 children between 2- to 10-years-old receiving vitamin A, following the three phases conducted in the last weeks. Administrative data...