Category: Health

15 March 2024 — I have just returned from Sudan, my first mission to an emergency country in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region since I took office 5 weeks ago. I saw first-hand the devastation that decades of fragility, and nearly a year of brutal war, have wreaked on the country. “We lost many things […]

16 MARCH 2024, CAIRO, EGYPT – Thirteen years of conflict have left 16.7 million people requiring humanitarian aid and 15 million people – 65% of the population – in need of health assistance in Syria. This is the largest number of people in need of humanitarian aid since the conflict began in 2011. “There are […]

The hundreds of species of microorganisms that comprise the microbiome all have different, unique roles. One of the important functions that takes place in the gut is the production of short-chain fatty acids. These molecules are derived from the fermentation of polysaccharides (a type of carbohydrate) which are primarily found in starchy foods. These short-chain […]

Nearly 500 million people around the world suffer from type-2 diabetes, caused mostly by poor diet, obesity, and lack of physical activity, and an estimated 200 million of them are dependent on insulin therapy for their health. In addition, there are about nine million people with type-1 diabetes because their pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin […]

11 March 2024, Cairo, Egypt – A US$ 8 million grant agreement signed yesterday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Japan will provide essential support for critically ill patients evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Egypt for medical treatment. The agreement was signed by His Excellency Mr OKA Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, […]

If at 58, I were to agree to a boxing match with a person half my age, much alarm would be caused. My daughters would burst into tears, my partner would have strong words, and my students would have final confirmation that I had lost the plot. I, however, am not “Iron Mike” Tyson. On […]

Israel’s Health Ministry is neglecting to add iodine and folic acid to table salt to minimize impaired cognitive and motor development that can cause permanent brain damage and birth defects in children, according to public health experts here and abroad. Despite success in many areas of preventive health care such as low infant mortality, it […]

11 March 2024 – Globally, more than 400 000 children and adolescents aged 0–19 years are diagnosed with cancer every year. Latest Global Cancer Observatory estimates for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region show that there were about 36 000 new cases of paediatric cancers and 16 500 deaths in 2022. Experts from every country and […]

Given that 98% of mammals do not have periods, do you know why humans do? When I ask my menstrual health workshop participants – including clinicians – there’s usually a lot of shrugging and shaking of heads. If given multiple choice options, most think that periods either “clean the womb” or somehow “help prepare for […]