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WHO launches US$30.3 million flash appeal to respond to escalating health crisis across the Middle East
Cairo, Egypt, 2 April 2026 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a US$30.3 million flash appeal to support its health response to the escalating conflict across the Middle East, focusing on Lebanon, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan. The appeal covers the period from March to August 2026 and aims...
WHO calls for collective action to end tuberculosis
24 March 2026, Cairo, Egypt – Under the theme of this year’s World Tuberculosis Day (WTBD 2026) – Yes! We can end TB! Led by countries. Powered by people – the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for urgent and sustained action to reverse the TB epidemic in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. TB remains a significant public health concern...
Update on escalating conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
17 March 2026 – Conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate, unfolding a multi-layered public health emergency. Increasing numbers of deaths and injuries are being reported, with over 1,440 deaths and more than 18,700 injuries reported in Iran, and more than 886 deaths and 2105 injuries in Lebanon. Displacement is also rising rapidly, with...
WHO releases US$2 million in emergency funds to support health response in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria
15 March 2026, Cairo, Egypt — As humanitarian health needs continue to rise across parts of the Middle East, WHO has released US$2 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) to support the health response in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. The fund is an internal rapid financing mechanism, allowing the Organization to quickly release funds...
Conflict deepens health crisis across Middle East, WHO says
WHO Representative in Lebanon and team visit the Dekwaneh shelter in Beirut, hosting internally displaced people and operated by health partner Caritas Lebanon. Photo credit: WHO Cairo/Geneva, 11 March 2026 — More than ten days into the latest escalation of conflict in the Middle East, health systems across the Region are coming under strain as injuries and...
Statement by Dr Hanan Balkhy, Regional Director WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region Palais Briefing on Impact of the recent escalation on the health situation in EMR
6 March 2026 Today, 115 million people across the Eastern Mediterranean Region require humanitarian assistance—roughly half of global humanitarian needs. Across the Region, fourteen WHO-graded health emergencies are ongoing, including seven at the highest level. Eighty million people face food insecurity, and 40 disease outbreaks are currently...
Statement by Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director at the Director-General’s Press Conference
5 March 2026 Dear Director General, dear excellencies ministers of health and dear colleagues, The situation across the Eastern Mediterranean is escalating rapidly, with serious consequences for civilians and health systems. Across the region, more than 1000 people have reportedly been killed and 7000 injured. One of our most serious concerns is attacks on...
WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and Pan American Health Organization sign agreement to strengthen hospital resilience
Cairo, Egypt, 25 February 2026 — WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have signed a Memorandum of Arrangement to strengthen collaboration on making hospitals safer and better prepared for health emergencies and disasters. At a time of growing instability and constrained...
WHO EMRO and Lebanese American University partner to advance IPC and AMR education
23 February 2026, Cairo, Egypt — The World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Lebanese American University (LAU) have signed a five-year agreement to advance integrated education and training in infection prevention and control (IPC), antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in the...
WHO and Boston University partner to tackle environmental-driven antimicrobial resistance in displaced communities
18 February 2026, Cairo-Egypt - The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and Boston University, through its Center on Forced Displacement, signed this week a five‑year Agreement to advance collaborative work on the intersection of environmental pollution and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among forcibly...
