14 October 2025 It is a real pleasure to be here today with our friends and colleagues from Unitaid. Signing this Letter of Mutual Understanding is an important step in strengthening our collaboration to make life-saving health products and services accessible to everyone, everywhere, across the Eastern Mediterranean Region. This partnership...

The mental health burden is especially acute among migrants and refugees, who often have limited access to psychosocial support October 10, 2025– For years, millions of people across the Eastern Mediterranean Region have lived without the certainty of a peaceful tomorrow. On this World Mental Health Day, WHO underscores the heavy toll of...

13 October 2025 – Substance use affects millions across the Eastern Mediterranean Region, impacting families, communities and health systems. From dependance and mental health conditions to infectious diseases, its consequences are far-reaching for individuals, families and societies. In response to the growing public health challenge across the...

RC72 discusses how to make health system recovery a cost–effective investment to advance equity, performance and sustained peace Cairo, October 13, 2025 — The Eastern Mediterranean Region, as it stands today, will require years of rebuilding in the countries affected by protracted conflict and fragility. For both the people of the Region, who...

13 October 2025 – Health systems across the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region are under immense strain. As of April 2025, 16 graded emergencies were affecting millions of people in the region, around 115 million people of whom are in urgent need of health services and humanitarian support. From armed conflicts and natural disasters to disease...

13 October 2025 – Countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) continue to face persistent challenges in accessing reliable, timely and actionable health data. In many settings, surveillance remains fragmented, uncoordinated, paper-based, disease-specific, and donor-driven—conditions that delay detection and weaken rapid response. Drawing...

13 October 2025, Cairo, Egypt – As of June 2025, WHO was managing 16 graded emergencies across the Eastern Mediterranean Region.  Multiple overlapping crisis had left over 115 million people in need of assistance– nearly a third of the global humanitarian burden. In 2024, the Region experienced 80 disease outbreaks, more than double the number in...

13 October 2025 – Some countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region continue to face major challenges in ensuring the availability, safety, quality, accessibility, affordability and clinical efficacy of blood and blood products. The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean has been actively engaged in improving national blood systems,...

13 October 2025 – Palliative care helps people manage pain, cope with emotional stress and make the most of life when facing serious health challenges. It also supports families, offering guidance, reassurance and a sense of agency during difficult times. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, where millions of people live with serious illnesses, the...

13 October 2025 – Guided by the WHO Regional framework for action on climate change, health and environment 2023–2029, countries across the Eastern Mediterranean Region have been intensifying efforts to protect public health from climate change.  Endorsed in October 2023, the framework provides a roadmap for building climate-resilient and...