17 July 2025, Cairo, Egypt – The Regional Health Alliance (RHA) convenes today to accelerate efforts to improve maternal, newborn and child health and support immunization and polio eradication across the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region.
The meeting will gather representatives from nine UN agencies and six priority countries – Afghanistan, Djibouti, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Hosted by WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, the one-day meeting aims to strengthen support for Member States as they implement national strategies to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality, eradicate polio and boost immunization coverage through the Expanded Programme on Immunization.
Recent data indicate that 60 countries globally are not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets on under-5 mortality, and 65 are off track for the neonatal mortality target. In 2023, the six priority countries accounted for almost 85% of under-5 deaths (694 000 out of 812 000) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and recorded some of the highest maternal mortality rates globally, ranging from 155 to 563 per 100 000 live births.
Participants will discuss ways to enhance efforts, renew commitment and increase investment in maternal, newborn and child health to help countries achieve the SDG targets adopted by UN Member States in 2015, including reducing maternal mortality to less than 70 per 100 000 live births and ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 by 2030.
Recognizing the urgent need for action, WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) are collaborating closely with high-burden countries to implement evidence-based interventions through initiatives such as Every Woman, Every Newborn, Everywhere (EWENE) and Child Survival Action initiatives.
The meeting also emphasizes the need to boost efforts to eradicate polio and advance immunization efforts against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases. Afghanistan and Pakistan, both in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, remain the only countries in the world with ongoing wild poliovirus transmission. Together with Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan, they account for 90% of the 2.8 million zero-dose children — those who have not received even a single dose of routine vaccines —in the Region. This large immunity gap not only threatens polio eradication but also increases the risk of outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases including variant poliovirus (cVDPV) outbreaks.
Polio eradication efforts are at a critical juncture. The recent decline in transmission in early 2025 offers a crucial 6–12-month window of opportunity to stop wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) transmission. Sustaining high-quality immunization and surveillance activities, reaching zero-dose children, and strengthening community engagement remain key priorities to achieve a polio-free Region.
About the Regional Health Alliance
Established in 2019, the Regional Health Alliance (RHA) is a UN platform of 18 agencies working together to support progress on the health-related SDGs in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. By promoting interagency collaboration and supporting Member States in addressing health priorities, RHA enhances coordination, collaboration and impact. In today’s context of limited resources, strategic alignment and efficiency are vital to maximizing collective efforts.
