COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Afghanistan: Credit: WHO/Zakarya Safari 7 September 2023, Cairo, Egypt – WHO recently designated the Omicron EG.5 lineage as a “variant of interest” and listed other closely monitored variants. It serves as a stark reminder that COVID-19 poses an enduring threat to public health. Within the Region, 4 countries...

7 September 2023, Cairo — World Suicide Prevention Day is being marked globally today, under the theme “Creating hope through action”. Suicide is a major public health problem with far-reaching social, emotional and economic consequences. It is the fourth leading cause of death among people between 15 and 29 years old. Estimates show that more...

Amman/Cairo, 29 August 2023 – Today, the regional directors of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the Near East and North Africa, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in the Middle East and North Africa and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Eastern Mediterranean...

Thank you for your interest to join the WHO EMRO Youth Council. The call for nominations is now closed. Applications have been submitted and will be reviewed in the coming weeks. 23 August 2023 – Young people are tomorrow’s leaders and today’s agents of change. WHO believes that young people’s voices should be at the heart of decisions that...

Dr Asmus Hammerich, Director of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, Dr Rana Hajjah, Director of Programme Management, Dr Hani Al Gouhmani, World No Tobacco Day award winner, and Dr Fatimah El-Awa, Regional Adviser for the Tobacco Free Iniative in the WHO Regional Office 23 August 2023, Cairo, Egypt – Every year, the WHO Regional Office...

19 August 2023, Cairo, Egypt – On this World Humanitarian Day, we come together to recognize the unwavering dedication and compassion of communities, humanitarian workers, and health care workers who tirelessly serve those in need worldwide.  This year's theme, "No Matter What", resonates deeply as we reflect on the challenges faced by the...

15 August 2023, NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME – For 4 gruesome months, the people of Sudan have been engulfed in a war that is destroying their lives and their homeland, and violating their basic human rights. People have witnessed their loved ones gunned down. Women and girls have been sexually assaulted. Families have seen their possessions looted and...

10 August 2023 – While there has been progress in building laboratory capacity in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, significant challenges remain, such as a lack of national policy and strategic planning for laboratory services, insufficient funding, insufficiently trained laboratory staff, inadequate laboratory infrastructure, old and...

8 August 2023  – World Hepatitis Day is observed each year on 28 July. The slogan of this year’s regional campaign was “Hepatitis medicines are cheaper now. Treat to save lives”. In WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, countries/territories have been making slow progress towards testing and treatment targets to eliminate hepatitis as a public...

30 July 2023 – The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Iraq for having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, making it the fifth country in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region to achieve this milestone. “The success of Iraq’s national trachoma programme has shown what can be achieved with national leadership and collaboration”,...