WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO)

Join our media briefing on the seventy-first session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean and updates on health emergencies in the Region 🗓️Tuesday, 8 October 2024 🕑14:00 Cairo Time (GMT 3)

October is #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth If early detection, and adequate diagnosis and treatment are available, there is a good chance that breast cancer can be cured. It is important for each woman and girl to seek medical attention if she has one or more of these symptoms: 🌸change in nipple appearance or alteration in the skin surrounding the nipple 🌸abnormal or bloody nipple discharge 🌸a lump or thickening in the breast 🌸change in breast colour 🌸pitting of the breast skin 🌸breast or nipple pain Over 90% of breast cancer cases are self-detected in those who do not undergo regular mammography screening. So, breast self-examination is always encouraged.

It's #WorldMeningitisDay What is #Meningitis? Meningitis is the inflammation of tissues around the brain and the spinal cord. Meningitis is a devastating disease with a high case fatality rate, which can lead to serious long-term complications. Also, it strikes quickly, has serious health, economic and social ramifications and affects people in all parts of the world. Meningitis affects people of all ages, everywhere, but young children are most at risk. Common symptoms of meningitis include: 🔵 Neck stiffness 🔵 Fever 🔵 Headaches 🔵 Nausea 🔵 Vomiting The roadmap to #DefeatMeningitis by 2030 has 3 key goals: 1️⃣ Eliminate bacterial meningitis epidemics 2️⃣ Cut vaccine-preventable bacterial meningitis cases by 50% and deaths by 70% 3️⃣ Reduce disability and improve quality of life for all meningitis cases By 2030, following WHO’s roadmap for action on meningitis will: 🔵 prevent nearly 3 million cases of meningitis 🔵 avoid 780 000 cases of long-lasting complications 🔵 generate economic benefits of US$ 86.0 – 100.4 billion

Mark your calendar!   Join our regional webinar on YouTube: "Mpox: providing safe and scalable clinical care" The webinar will focus on the latest guidance for the provision of comprehensive age- and gender-appropriate support for patients with mpox, including facility-based and home-based care for patients. The webinar will cover: - optimized supportive care for patients - the protection of health care workers and patients - the latest on medical countermeasures 🗓️Wednesday, 2 October 2024 🕐13:00 Cairo Time (GMT 3)

Mark your calendar!   Join our regional webinar on YouTube: "Mpox: providing safe and scalable clinical care" The webinar will focus on the latest guidance for the provision of comprehensive age- and gender-appropriate support for patients with mpox, including facility-based and home-based care for patients. The webinar will cover: - optimized supportive care for patients - the protection of health care workers and patients - the latest on medical countermeasures 🗓️Wednesday, 2 October 2024 🕐13:00 Cairo Time (GMT 3)

Children's recovery from #ChildhoodCancer largely depends on the capacity of health systems to ensure timely diagnosis, early referral & appropriate treatment.    Yet health systems suffer from relative fragility, interrupted supply chains, weak referral systems and chronic shortage of health workforce.    Ministers of Health from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, the occupied Palestinian territory and Syria joined the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC), and committed to scale up a wide range of interventions across the initiative's CureAll framework, including:    🔵Streamlining governance mechanisms  🔵Building the capacity of professionals across the care continuum through effective referral networks at national and subnational levels  🔵 Standardizing the diagnosis and treatment of children with cancer across public and private health facilities to ensure that all children receive the same, high-quality treatment regardless of where they live  🔵 Strengthening supply chain systems to avoid shortages of life-saving medicines #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth

إنه #اليوم_العالمي_للقلب إن ما يُقدر بنحو 38% من السكان (258 مليون شخص) في إقليم منظمة الصحة العالمية لشرق المتوسط مصابون بارتفاع ضغط الدم. وهو عامل خطر رئيسي للإصابة بأمراض القلب، ولنسبة 50% من مجموع الوفيات المرتبطة بالقلب والأوعية الدموية قبل سن 70 عامًا. ويُعد التدبير العلاجي لارتفاع ضغط الدم في وقت مبكر وبفعالية عاملًا مهمًا. يكتسي التشخيص المبكر والعلاج الفعال والوقاية أهمية حاسمة في الحد من عبء أمراض القلب. هذه العوامل تعرض قلبك ❤️ للخطر:   ❗️النظام الغذائي غير الصحي🍔🍟 ❗️التبغ🚬 ❗️تلوُّث الهواء😷 ❗️قلة الحركة   كيف تقلل من خطر الإصابة بأمراض القلب والأوعية الدموية؟   🚭التوقف عن التدخين 🧂خفض مدخول الملح 🥗الإكثار من تناول الفواكه والخضروات 👟ممارسة النشاط البدني بانتظام 💊تناول الدواء الموصوف لك إذا كنت تعاني من ارتفاع ضغط الدم أو السكري أو ارتفاع الدهون في الدم كيف يمكن للأفراد حماية أنفسهم من أمراض القلب؟   ❤️مراقبة صحة القلب ❤️اتباع أنماط حياة صحية ❤️التماس الرعاية في الوقت المناسب   انقذ حياتك. حَسّن نوعية حياتك.

It's #WorldHeartDay In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, an estimated 38% of the population— equivalent to 258 million people — live with hypertension. It is a major risk factor for heart disease and 50% of all cardiovascular-related deaths before the age of 70. It is important to manage hypertension early and effectively. Early diagnosis, effective treatment and prevention are crucial to reducing the burden of heart disease. These factors put your heart at risk: ❗️Unhealthy diet ❗️Tobacco ❗️Air pollution ❗️Not moving enough How to reduce your risk of cardiovascular diseases? 🚭Quit smoking  🧂Reduce salt intake 🥗Eat more fruits and vegetables 👟Exercise regularly  💊Take your prescribed medication if you have hypertension, diabetes or high blood lipids How can individuals protect themselves from heart diseases? ❤️monitor their heart health ❤️adopt healthier lifestyles ❤️seek timely care Save your life. Enhance your life quality.

It’s International Day of Awareness of #FoodLossandWaste Food insecurity – a major cause of stunting – is made worse by food waste & loss. It leads people to consume unsafe food because they lack options, increasing their risk of foodborne diseases. We must address food insecurity to ensure our children are healthy. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region low weight-for-height rates in children are alarming and have reached 14.1% in Sudan. These rates often indicate a person has not had enough food to eat.   25% (23 million) of children under 5 in the @WHOEMRO Region have low height-for-age – aka stunting.  In 2022, the prevalence of #Stunting among children under 5 was lowest in Qatar (4.4%) and highest in Libya (52.2%). Stunting prevents children from fulfilling their physical and cognitive potential.   How can we reduce #FoodLoss and waste? Ensuring food is safely handled, transported and stored minimizes contamination and spoilage. Reducing food waste helps build more sustainable, safe and secure food systems.   Let's commit to #EndHunger and reduce #FoodWaste. #FLWDay

Today is #InternationalSafeAbortionDay Abortion care is an important aspect of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Removing barriers to abortion protects women’s lives, health and human rights. Globally, 3 out of 10 pregnancies end in induced abortion. Abortion is safe when carried out by a skilled health provider using a World Health Organization-recommended method that is appropriate to the term of pregnancy. When women with an unwanted pregnancy face barriers to safe abortion care, they often resort to unsafe abortion. Ensuring that women and girls have access to safe, timely, affordable and respectful abortion care is important for their health and well-being. In 2022, WHO developed the Abortion care guideline, which was shared with all Member States. The guideline covers aspects including: 🔵quality of abortion care 🔵the abortion care pathway 🔵an enabling environment for comprehensive abortion care Postabortion care is crucial to prevent complications that can lead to the woman falling ill or even dying. In line with international human rights law and medical best practice, postabortion care should always be provided. Postabortion care includes any or all of the below, as needed or desired: 🔵optional follow-up check-up 🔵management of residual side effects or complications 🔵contraception services Quality postabortion care is supported by an enabling environment that includes: 🔵respect for human rights and a framework of law & policy 🔵availability and accessibility of information 🔵universally accessible, affordable and well-functioning health system The integration of sexual and reproductive health and rights, including postabortion care, within health policies, programmes and services is important to both individual and community health. Postabortion family planning services are essential to prevent unintended pregnancies. Such services are crucial for women’s physical and mental well-being throughout the course of their lives. Postpartum family planning focuses on the prevention of unintended and closely spaced pregnancies through the first 12 months following childbirth. Also, it helps women to: 🔵decide on the contraceptive they want to use 🔵initiate that contraceptive 🔵continue contraceptive use Short birth-to-pregnancy intervals cause increased risks for adverse outcomes, such as preterm, low birth weight and small for gestational age. Postpartum family planning can avert maternal deaths and child mortality if couples space their pregnancies more than 2 years apart.