WHO’s EMRO Region Elects First Ever Female Director
World Health Organization 11/10/2023 •
Incoming EMRO director Dr Hanan Balkhy being congratulated by current regional director Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari

Dr  Hanan Balkhy has been elected as the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO), becoming the first woman ever to have been chosen for the challenging position in the world’s most conflict-ridden region.

A Saudi national, Balkhy will assume the position on 1 February 2024 for a period of five years, serving a population of 745 million people. 

This was after the region’s 22 member states chose Balkhy on Tuesday at their 70th session. Her nomination will be presented to the WHO Executive Board in January for formal ratification. 

Balkhy has an expertise of more than a decade in public health, children’s health, and infectious diseases. 

She has been Assistant Director-General for Antimicrobial Resistance at the WHO headquarters in Geneva since 2019. Prior to this, Balkhy was the first Executive Director for Infection Prevention and Control at the Saudi Arabian Ministry of National Guard. 

Socio-economic gaps

The EMRO region stretches out across Morrocco to the Gulf and West Asia to Pakistan, the new regional director has to explore and identify strategies to improve the region’s healthcare capabilities by addressing the glaring socio-economic gaps. 

The region comprises some of the world’s richest countries – Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman – and the poorest – Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia.  Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are all part of the region

There are massive discrepancies between the countries in terms of health indicators. For example, the life expectancy in Qatar is 80 years but in Somalia, it is only 55.4 years. 

In terms of maternal mortality, 620 Afghan women die for every 100,000 live births, in comparison with 70 Kuwaiti women  per 100,000 births.

While Israel opted to be part of the WHO European region, Balkhy will have to address the health fallout of the intense conflict between Israel and the Occupied Palestine Territory, which is also part of her region.

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