Supporting research on health security preparedness in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

tdr-research

3 November 2021 – TDR, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region and the WHO Health Security Preparedness Department are pleased to announce the 13 recipients of grants to conduct research on health security preparedness.

Health emergencies pose significant risks to communities, organizations and governments across the world. Hazardous events create the risk of morbidity and mortality, interruption of essential health services, and wider uncertainty and economic disruption. Improving health security and preparedness can help avert these harmful, and often inequitable impacts.

Operational and implementation research should be a key part of the design and review of preparedness programmes at country level. Yet there is a scarcity of research and development in health security/emergency preparedness, especially in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, which can guide national and sub-national decision-making and the development of guidance for emergency preparedness at national, regional and global levels. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic highlights the challenge of effectively measuring the presence of such capacities and the need for more research in these areas of work.

To address this gap, grants have been awarded for 13 projects from nine countries that will document, synthesize and disseminate evidence of capacities for implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), health security and health emergency preparedness. 

Country Grant recipient
Last Name
Grant recipient
First Name
Project title
Islamic Republic of Iran Hoveidamanesh Soodabeh A survey of the COVID-19 infodemic and social media in Iran and proposed strategies for managing it
Islamic Republic of Iran Yarmohammadian Mohammad Designing an integrated resilient system for promoting inter-organizational partnership for the health system (emphasis on networking in disasters and emergencies)
Jordan Jalabneh Rawan Upholding quality and patient safety during COVID-19 across  public, private, military and university-affiliated hospitals in Jordan
Lebanon Haddad Nadine Roadmap for national post-COVID-19 recovery strategy for children under 18 years old in Lebanon
Occupied Palestinian Territory Abu Ali Khaled Evaluation of IHR (2005) implementation in Palestine in the context of a variety of crises
Pakistan Naz Sumera Assessing the capacity of the provincial laboratory system of Khyber Pakhtun Khua province of Pakistan in accordance with IHR indicators for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic
Pakistan Jabeen Aleya Evaluation of Infection Prevention and Control implementation and level of health security preparedness at subnational facility level in underdeveloped areas of Pakistan
Qatar Bansal Devendra Pandemic fatigue, risk perceptions and their effects on adherence to protective measures against COVID-19 in craft and manual workers in Qatar
Sudan Ibrahim Motaz Assessment of influencing role of risk communication and community engagement strategies in community response to COVID-19 vaccination programmes
Sudan Ismail Salwa Assessing the multi-sectorial coordinated efforts toward strengthening the public health security in Sudan`s COVID-19 response
United Arab Emirates Aljawarneh Yousef The associations between risk perception, cognitive fatigue, stigma and quality of life with long-term implementation of social measures during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UAE: a correlational study.
Yemen Abdul-Ghani Rashad COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its associated predictors among healthcare providers in Sana’a city, Yemen

For more information, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at TDR, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at WHO’s Health Security Preparedness Department, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at the WHO Regional Office.