Statement by Ms. Laila Baker, UNFPA Arab States Regional Director; Ms. Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa; Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean More than half of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip are closed. Those still functioning are under massive strain and can only...

Many of the wounded have been cared for in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza since early October 2023. Photo from 15 October 2023. Credit: WHO 12 November 2023 — WHO has lost communication with its contacts in Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. As horrifying reports of the hospital facing repeated attacks continue to emerge, we assume our contacts...

8 November 2023 – As deaths and injuries in Gaza continue to rise due to intensified hostilities, intense overcrowding and disrupted health, water, and sanitation systems pose an added danger: the rapid spread of infectious diseases. Some worrying trends are already emerging.  Lack of fuel has led to the shutting down of desalination plants,...

4 November 2023 — WHO condemns the attacks on 3 November near Al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Quds Hospital, and the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City and North Gaza governorates. According to reports, at Al-Shifa Hospital, ambulances were evacuating critically injured and sick patients to hospitals in the south of the Gaza Strip when there was an attack at...

01 November 2023, Beirut, Lebanon – As hostilities escalate on the border between Lebanon and Israel, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari has concluded a visit to Beirut, where he met with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, UN partners, and WHO staff to reinforce health system preparedness for a...

1 November 2023 – The Doha Statement on Healthy Cities was endorsed today, concluding the Eastern Mediterranean Healthy Cities Conference2023 jointly organized by WHO and Ministry of Public Health of Qatar. The Doha Declaration serves as a call for action to advance towards to sustainable urban well-being. The 2-day event brought together experts and...

1 November 2023 – The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes Egypt’s decision to accept 81 injured and sick people from the Gaza Strip for treatment. WHO has been working to support the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population in planning and establishing a comprehensive triage, stabilization, and medical evacuation system, by providing...

31 October 2023, Doha, Qatar – Her Excellency Dr Hanan Mohammed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health of Qatar, today inaugurated the 3-day Eastern Mediterranean Region Healthy Cities Conference 2023, organized by the Ministry of Public Health and the World Health Organization (WHO). The opening ceremony was attended by Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO...

Episode 2 Dr Sayed Abo Bakar Rasooli, Health Emergencies Officer, and Incident Manager for Herat Earthquakes Emergency Response, WHO Afghanistan 30 October 2023 – I was resting at home, as I do on weekends, when I felt the powerful earthquake that struck Afghanistan’s Herat province a little after 11:00 on 7 October 2023. It was so unusually...

27 October 2023 – Since 7 October 2023, the escalating crisis in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory has caused large numbers of civilian deaths and injuries. In the Gaza Strip, airstrikes and a lack of medical supplies, food, water and fuel have virtually depleted an already under-resourced health system. Hospitals have been operating far...