World Humanitarian Day 2018

Statement by Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari. WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean 19 August 2018, Cairo, Egypt The Eastern Mediterranean Region is witnessing an unprecedented number, magnitude and severity of emergencies, culminating in a major humanitarian tragedy. More than 70 million people are in need of health aid, including 16 million people displaced within their countries, and 32 million people who are food insecure. Behind the numbers are real people, each one caught up in the absurdity of war and facing daily hardships and challenges: the mother wondering where the next meal for her hungry children will come from; the cancer patient struggling to find a hospital that is equipped to provide treatment; the woman who has been abused and humiliated; the elderly man exposed to scorching heat with only a tent for shelter; the little boy caught in the cross-fire and now paralyzed for life. A number of countries in our Region, including the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen, have become the new face of humanitarian suffering. Besieged populations are cut off from aid and subjected to gross human rights violations. Millions of refugees and displaced people live in overcrowded camps and non-camp settings, exposed to often unsanitary living conditions. Long-forgotten diseases have re-emerged, and people are dying of diseases that could be easily and quickly treated under normal circumstances. Mass population movement has caused infectious diseases to cross borders to neig...
Source: WHO EMRO News - Category: Middle East Health Source Type: news