WHO ’s Regional Director presents roadmap for WHO’s work in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Geneva, 22 May 2017 – On 21 May, Dr Mahmoud Fikri, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, presented a roadmap of WHO’s work for the Eastern Mediterranean Region for 2017–2021 to ministers of health of the Region. It translates the vision of the WHO Regional Director into a set of strategic actions to guide WHO’s work with Member States. It takes into consideration the global commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the WHO reform agenda. In ensuring alignment of this roadmap with the SDGs, focus has been placed on five strategic priorities: emergencies and health security communicable diseases noncommunicable diseases maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health health system strengthening. The Region is witnessing an unprecedented magnitude and scale of crises. Today, almost two thirds of its countries are directly or indirectly affected by emergencies. Thus, many face considerable hurdles in re-orienting national development plans to achieve the targets of the SDGs and WHO is providing support to the efforts of these countries to: strengthen health sector capacity to prepare for and respond to health emergencies; strengthen surveillance, early detection and response to emerging infectious disease outbreaks; meet IHR obligations; and interrupt circulation of poliovirus and certify eradication in the Region by 2021. The principal risk factors contributing to the emergence and rapid spread of a high number of emerging di...
Source: WHO EMRO News - Category: Middle East Health Source Type: news