Health ministers from the 22 countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region opened the 73rd Regional Committee session in Cairo, confronting a region that holds 9 percent of the world’s population yet nearly half of global humanitarian need—117 million people.

The agenda focused on health financing for equity, a multi-disease elimination architecture, polio eradication, emergency response and artificial intelligence, while WHO officials stressed the need to protect services in Afghanistan, Gaza, Sudan and Yemen amid shrinking resources.

Kuwait Prize awards recognised pioneering work in paediatric oncology, cardiovascular surgery and diabetes care, underscoring the session’s dual emphasis on crisis response and long-term system strengthening.

Health ministers and senior officials from across the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region convened in Cairo for the opening of the Seventy-third session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean (RC73).

The WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean is WHO’s governing body in the Region, bringing together ministers of health and senior representatives from its 22 countries and territories to set regional health priorities and guide WHO work with Member States.

The session was formally opened by Dr Salih Al-Hasnawi, Minister of Health of Iraq and Chair of RC72. WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, attended the opening........

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