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Regional Director’s statement on COVID-19 and monkeypox outbreak
22 June 2022 — Over the past few weeks, reported cases and deaths from COVID-19 continue to decline globally and regionally. Naturally, we feel relieved with this news. But is it really the time to let our guard down? While we observe these encouraging trends, we need to interpret them cautiously. Many countries have reduced testing and...
World Refugee Day: Everyone has the right to seek safety
20 June 2022, Cairo—Today is World Refugee Day, which focuses on the right to seek safety, including safe borders, not forcing anyone back if doing so would jeopardize their life or freedom and the right to non-discriminatory, humane treatment. As we mark World Refugee Day 2022, we remember the sacrifice and courage of millions of people who were forced...
FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO work jointly to accelerate action on maternal and child undernutrition in the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Mediterranean and Arab regions
Amman/Cairo | 15 June 2022 | Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Near East and North Africa Region, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) Middle East and North Africa Region are convening a...
Regional Director's statement on monkeypox
8 June 2022 – Cases of monkeypox in non-endemic countries around the world continue to rise, with 780 confirmed cases reported from 27 countries as of 2 June. No deaths have been reported during the current outbreak. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, a total of 14 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported from 2 countries: 13 cases in the...
Intercountry consultation on the sustainability of tuberculosis, HIV and malaria programmes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and transitioning towards domestic financing
5 June 2022 - Countries in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region receiving resources from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria need to start to address the sustainability of their national HIV, tuberculosis and malaria strategies and programmes, regardless of their economic capacity or disease burden. To facilitate this, WHO is...
Statement by the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean on monkeypox
Geneva, Switzerland, 26 May 2022 Dear colleagues, A warm welcome from WHO headquarters in Geneva, where I am currently attending the 75th World Health Assembly. Over the past few weeks, WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean has been closely following reports of monkeypox in countries in other WHO regions where the disease is not...
First case of monkeypox reported in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region
24 May 2022, Cairo, Egypt – The first case of monkeypox in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region has been reported by the Ministry of Health and Prevention in the United Arab Emirates as countries continue to scale up detection and response capacities for this viral disease. The patient is currently receiving treatment and additional suspected cases...
International Nurses Day 2022: Nurses: respect, support and appreciate them
12 May 2022 – Every year on 12 May, the world marks International Nurses Day in recognition of the tireless and invaluable contribution of nurses to health care and global health security. Nurses and midwives make up more than half of the health workforce in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region. However, the Region accounts for 17% of the global...
Statement by the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr in the context of COVID-19
Cairo, Egypt, 1 May 2022 — As the holy month of Ramadan comes to an end, almost 2 billion Muslims in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and around the world will soon celebrate the Eid al-Fitr feast. On this occasion, I would like to wish everyone in the Region and beyond a blessed, happy, safe, and healthy Eid. This is the third Eid al-Fitr feast...
WHO condemns escalating violence and attacks on health workers in West Darfur, Sudan
Cairo, Egypt, 28 April 2022 – The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for the immediate cessation of armed violence in West Darfur, Sudan, that has resulted in hundreds of civilians killed or injured, the death of 2 health care workers, and attacks on 2 health facilities in the past 6 days alone. “We are extremely alarmed by reports of...
