Statement by Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director at the health emergencies presser

27 January 2026

As we enter 2026, the Eastern Mediterranean Region carries the highest humanitarian burden anywhere in the world, with an estimated 115 million people needing assistance this year alone. Nearly half of global humanitarian needs are concentrated in this Region, yet funding is moving in the wrong direction. In 2025, WHO's emergency health appeals in the Region were only 55 per cent funded. The gap between needs and available resources continues to widen-and lives are being lost as a result.

Across the Region, conflict, mass displacement, disease outbreaks, climate shocks, and fragile health systems are interacting in ways that deepen vulnerability and push health systems beyond their limits.

WHO is currently responding to 15 graded health emergencies-accounting for a third of all graded emergencies worldwide. These include acute, high-intensity crises such as Sudan and Gaza, alongside long-running and chronically underfunded emergencies in Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan.

Preventable diseases are claiming lives at scale. In 2025, WHO responded to 62 disease outbreaks across 19 of the Region's 22 countries and territories-including cholera, dengue, measles, mpox and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus-by supporting early detection and verification, deploying rapid response teams, strengthening surveillance and laboratory capacity, and coordinating national and partner-led action. These diseases are preventable or treatable in stable settings. In fragile and conflict-affected contexts, however, they spread rapidly, overwhelm health services, and disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable.

Health care itself remains under attack. As mandated by Member States through WHA resolution 65.20, WHO systematically documents attacks on health care in humanitarian emergencies and advocates for the protection of health services from violence and obstruction. In 2025, the Eastern Mediterranean Region accounted for 41 per cent of all attacks on health care reported globally, and more than 90 per cent of deaths linked to these attacks. Sudan has become the single largest driver of global fatalities among health workers and patients.

Displacement has reached unprecedented levels. The Region hosts three of the world's largest displacement crises-in Sudan, Syria and Afghanistan. Sudan has the largest forced displacement crisis globally. Overall, the Eastern Mediterranean hosts nearly half of the world's internally displaced people, remains the largest source of refugees worldwide, and also hosts more than a third of the global refugee population. These movements place immense pressure on health systems, often in countries that were already struggling to meet basic needs.

Despite these constraints, WHO continues to deliver wherever possible. In Sudan, after more than 1,000 days of conflict and amid ongoing outbreaks of cholera, dengue, malaria and other diseases, WHO is supporting essential health services, disease surveillance and outbreak response, and early recovery and rehabilitation in more accessible areas. Since the start of the conflict, these efforts have enabled the treatment of 3.3 million patients and over 112,000 severely acute malnourished children with medical complications; the vaccination of millions against cholera, malaria, rubella and polio; and the delivery of 3,378 metric tonnes of medical supplies and medicines.

In Gaza, the ceasefire has allowed WHO and partners to scale up operations, restore supply pipelines, expand access to care, and rehabilitate a WHO warehouse that was shelled. WHO has supported trauma care, emergency services, disease surveillance, and the replenishment of essential medicines and supplies. However, supplies entering Gaza remain far below what is required, including medical equipment critical to the functioning of health facilities. In mid-January, the Ministry of Health reported zero stock of half of all essential medicines and 65 per cent of medical disposables, alongside other severe shortages. These needs must be urgently addressed, alongside sustaining services, restoring health system functionality, and tackling the long-term impacts of prolonged conflict, including mental health and rehabilitation needs.

The emergency in Yemen receives far less attention but remains just as urgent. The current security situation in the north risks leaving millions without humanitarian assistance, including emergency health services. Only 66 per cent of children in Yemen are fully immunized, leaving millions vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, polio and diphtheria. An outbreak of variant poliovirus that began in 2021 has paralyzed more than 450 children, mostly in northern Yemen. With no mass vaccination campaigns conducted in the northern governorates since 2022, the risk of further spread continues to grow. WHO remains in ongoing dialogue with the authorities to secure sustained access for implementing mass vaccination campaigns.

During my recent visit to Syria, the focus was firmly on health system recovery and the transition from emergency response to longer-term solutions. Encouragingly, there is major shift in acknowledging substance use as a public health issue, with steps being taken towards evidence-based, people-centred care. Today, we are joined by UNODC Regional Director Cristina Albertin, who will share reflections on our recent mission to Syria and our joint regional priorities within the framework of the Regional Health Alliance. The RHA brings together 18 UN agencies and provides a practical framework for collective action on health across the UN system.

Across all emergencies, the need for coordinated inter-agency action remains critical. WHO is finalizing its 2026 Emergency Health Appeal, which sets out what is needed to sustain life-saving health services and prevent further loss of life. This appeal reflects not only the scale of today's needs, but the very real cost of inaction.

Next month, Member States will gather in Geneva for the 158th session of the WHO Executive Board to tackle the most pressing global health issues. We will be there to represent the voices of those most affected by crisis. I encourage everyone to follow the proceedings online and to continue asking tough questions of your leaders-particularly about funding for global health, and for health in emergencies.

I am now pleased to give the floor to UNODC Regional Director Cristina Albertin.