Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and two other international relief agencies all said that they are withdrawing emergency medical teams from Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza after intensified fighting around the hospital area made it impossible for staff to continue emergency care functions.  “After days of artillery fighting in Gaza’s Middle Area, Israeli forces […] Continue reading ->
From earthquakes in Afghanistan to floods in Libya and the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region, is beset with one of the world’s largest concentrations of people trapped in humanitarian crises and in desperate need of emergency health services, food aid, as well as peace,  said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director […] Continue reading ->
In a fragile show of unity, the World Health Organization Executive Board approved a draft resolution calling for “immediate, sustained and unimpeded” humanitarian relief to beleaguered Gaza, including safe passage of health personnel and supplies, as well as ambulances and patients.  The WHO EB move, which will clear the resolution for approval by the May World […] Continue reading ->
Israel launched what it described as a “targeted operation” into Gaza’s besieged Shifa Hospital early Wednesday morning – which was immediately denounced by the World Health Organization as “unacceptable” and contrary to international law – regardless of whether Hamas made use of the facility for military purposes.  Meanwhile, on Tuesday, an Israeli delegation visiting Geneva […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, explicitly excluded the world’s five largest emitters of greenhouse gasses – China, the United States, Russia, India and Japan – from his Climate Ambition Summit, held Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The United Kingdom, another major polluter, was notably absent from the summit, amid reports […] Continue reading ->
For most people, electing the regional director – or chief health officer – for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) of the World Health Organization (WHO) will not set the pulse racing.  Is this just another shuffling of chairs around the world’s bureaucratic table? Even among global health nerds, it will trigger just a faint tremor. […] Continue reading ->