01 November 2023, Beirut, Lebanon – As hostilities escalate on the border between Lebanon and Israel, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari has concluded a visit to Beirut, where he met with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, UN partners, and WHO staff to reinforce health system preparedness for a...

1 November 2023 – The Doha Statement on Healthy Cities was endorsed today, concluding the Eastern Mediterranean Healthy Cities Conference2023 jointly organized by WHO and Ministry of Public Health of Qatar. The Doha Declaration serves as a call for action to advance towards to sustainable urban well-being. The 2-day event brought together experts and...

1 November 2023 – The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes Egypt’s decision to accept 81 injured and sick people from the Gaza Strip for treatment. WHO has been working to support the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population in planning and establishing a comprehensive triage, stabilization, and medical evacuation system, by providing...

31 October 2023, Doha, Qatar – Her Excellency Dr Hanan Mohammed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health of Qatar, today inaugurated the 3-day Eastern Mediterranean Region Healthy Cities Conference 2023, organized by the Ministry of Public Health and the World Health Organization (WHO). The opening ceremony was attended by Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO...

Episode 2 Dr Sayed Abo Bakar Rasooli, Health Emergencies Officer, and Incident Manager for Herat Earthquakes Emergency Response, WHO Afghanistan 30 October 2023 – I was resting at home, as I do on weekends, when I felt the powerful earthquake that struck Afghanistan’s Herat province a little after 11:00 on 7 October 2023. It was so unusually...

27 October 2023 – Since 7 October 2023, the escalating crisis in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory has caused large numbers of civilian deaths and injuries. In the Gaza Strip, airstrikes and a lack of medical supplies, food, water and fuel have virtually depleted an already under-resourced health system. Hospitals have been operating far...

24 October 2023 – WHO remains unable to distribute fuel and essential, life-saving health supplies to major hospitals in northern Gaza due to lack of security guarantees. WHO calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire so health supplies and fuel can be delivered safely throughout the Gaza Strip. Some of the facilities waiting for WHO supplies...

24 October 2023, Cairo, Egypt – A regional Geographic Information System (GIS) Portal for Health Emergencies has been developed and launched by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. The GIS Portal is a comprehensive hub, offering an updated geospatial resource to facilitate timely response during health emergencies at the...

21 October 2023, Cairo, Egypt — Four trucks carrying WHO health supplies have started to move towards the Rafah border crossing, on their way to Gaza. The supplies include trauma medicines and supplies for 1200 people and 235 portable trauma bags for on-the-spot stabilization of injured patients. They also include medicines for the treatment of...

Participants during the workshop. Photo credit: WHO/Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment Unit Cairo, 19 October 2023 – The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean ran a workshop in Alexandria governorate, Egypt, in September 2023 to review implementation of a project, Improving monitoring capacity in humanitarian and fragile...