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‘A health threat anywhere is a health threat everywhere’: new strategic framework for infectious hazard management discussed and adopted
A panel of infectious disease specialists discusses the new strategic framework for infectious hazard management (Photo: Simon van Woerden/WHO) 19 December 2018 - From 16 to 19 December, nearly 100 infectious disease experts from Ministries of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and research institutes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region...
Using surveillance data to analyse influenza severity in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Trainees and experts discuss influenza data and statistical methods included in the PISA tool (Photo: WHO). 26 November 2018 – From 1 to 4 October, in a premiere event for the Region, over 25 influenza experts converged in Tunis for a training workshop on influenza baseline setting and threshold value determination for so-called Pandemic...
Filling knowledge gaps to strengthen Yemen’s cholera response
Experts from WHO, UNICEF, MSF and other partners convened in Amman to discuss and improve the response to Yemen’s ongoing cholera outbreak (Photo: WHO). 25 November, 2018 – To improve the response to the ongoing cholera outbreak in Yemen, which has caused over 1.3 million suspected cases since 2016, experts from WHO, UNICEF, MSF and other...
Ramping up Ebola preparedness to ensure early detection and response
A member of a Rapid Response Team receives training on Ebola in Sudan (Photo: WHO). 22 November 2018 – The Infectious Hazard Management unit of WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean has launched a series of activities to scale up Ebola preparedness and readiness. Although no cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) have yet been reported...
Training workshop held on establishing pool of experts on Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
MERS experts convened in Abu Dhabi from 23 to 25 October 2018 to exchange expertise and discuss the establishment of an expert pool (Photo: Lubna Al Ariqi/WHO) 25 October 2018 – From 23 to 25 October 2018, the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office convened a training workshop in Abu Dhabi on improving public health preparedness and readiness...
Pool of MERS experts for deployment established by WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean
Event participants express their support for #ONEHEALTH in the fight to #tackleMERS (Photo: Simon van Woerden, WHO) 23 October 2018 - From 23 to 25 October, 60 high-level public health and MERS practitioners, researchers, and experts will meet in Abu Dhabi to establish a pool of experts that can be deployed rapidly during any future outbreaks, as...
Recent imported case of MERS with travel history to Kuwait proves it is still a global threat
A joint team from WHO and Kuwait’s Ministry of Health speak with the physician who treated the Korean MERS patient. (Photo: WHO) 10 October 2018 - In a globalized world, infectious disease outbreaks can travel between countries within hours, potentially becoming a concern for the entire world. When a 61-year old Korean man was diagnosed with the...
New EWARN Handbook to enhance quality of epidemiological surveillance in humanitarian emergencies
Workshop participants discuss group work on EWARN performance benchmarks (Photo: WHO) 27 September 2018 - From 17 to 20 September, 30 health professionals from 7 countries met in Beirut, Lebanon, to discuss and improve data collection, analysis and reporting for Early Warning Alert and Response Network (EWARN)in humanitarian emergencies. EWARN, an...
Mission accomplished: an incident- and outbreak-free Hajj
WHO (l) and Saudi Ministry of Health staff review the distribution of medical units along the way from Mina to Gamarat on the 4th day of the 2018 Hajj pilgrimage (Photo: Mona Yassin/WHO). 26 August 2018 - Last week, a total of 2.7 million muslim pilgrims passed through Saudi Arabia on the annual Hajj, one of the largest mass gatherings in the...
Preparing for pandemic flu: five countries ready to update preparedness plans
Biostatistician Elyes Boutouria (l) and epidemiologist Wassim Zaatour review Tunisia’s map of influenza sentinel sites at the national observatory for new and emerging diseases Photo: Simon van Woerden/WHO 15 August 2018 - From 13 to 15 August, public health experts from five countries gathered in Tunis, to develop a planning tool for creating...
