26 October 2016 – The World Health Organization, together with national health authorities and health cluster partners, have accelerated preparedness and response measures for internally displaced persons from Mosul by prepositioning 46 mobile medical clinics, 45 mobile health teams and 26 ambulances in a number of prioritized areas around the...

17 October 2016 – At least 5 people, including 2 children and 2 women, were reportedly killed when a primary health care centre in Kafr Zita, northern Hama governorate, Syria, was hit on 15 October. At least 10 others were injured, including 2 health staff.   The centre sustained major damages and is temporarily out of service. Hundreds of people are now...

Sana'a, 7 October 2016— Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population has officially announced the occurrence of 8 cholera cases among population in one of the areas of Sana'a city. The stool samples of these cases were tested positive for Vibrio cholerae. The cases were admitted to Al-Sabeen Hospital in Sana'a in the first week of October and...

6 October 2016 – The World Health Organization congratulates Dr Mahmoud M. Fikri on his nomination as Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region during the 63rd Regional Committee, which has just concluded in Cairo, Egypt.  The nomination will be submitted to WHO’s Executive Board which meets in January 2017 when the election for the...

Cairo, 4 October 2016 – During the first day of the Regional Committee meeting, WHO’s Regional Director Dr Ala Alwan presented his annual report on the work of WHO in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in 2015 and into 2016 to ministers of health and senior level policy-makers attending the 63rd Session of the Regional Committee in Cairo, Egypt. The...

3 October 2016, Cairo – Ministers of health and high-level representatives of the 22 countries and territories of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region and health partners are attending the 63rd session of the Regional Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt. The Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean is WHO’s decision-making body in the Region. It...

UN Photo/B Wolff92% of the world’s population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO-recommended limits 27 September 2016 | Cairo – A new World Health Organization (WHO) air quality model confirms that 92% of the world’s population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO-recommended limits. The situation is even worse in...

Collective effort to address a challenge to health, food security, and development Joint news release OPGA/WHO/FAO/OIE 21 SEPTEMBER 2016 | NEW YORK - World leaders today signalled an unprecedented level of attention to curb the spread of infections that are resistant to antimicrobial medicines. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) happens when...

14 September 2016, Mecca – The World Health Organization (WHO) has today concluded its mission to Saudi Arabia to support the Ministry of Health in ensuring a safe pilgrimage season (Hajj). So far there has been no major health threat or event of concern, with no major disease outbreak reported among the nearly two million pilgrims attending the...

11 September 2016 – More than 26 000 Saudi health staff have started providing support to pilgrims at 25 hospitals and 158 primary health care centres around the holy sites where more than 1.5 Muslims from 140 countries have begun the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Today, pilgrims are traveling to Mount Arafat, for what will be the main...