Nearly 120 million people in Eastern Mediterranean region will need urgent health assistance this year

Nearly 120 million people in the Eastern Mediterranean countries will require humanitarian aid and urgent health assistance in 2026.

That was among the issues that came up when the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean was concluding its 3-day intensive workshop in Egypt.

The Cairo held workshop was aimed at building national emergency medical teams.

Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) are groups of health professionals, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, deployed to provide immediate medical care in emergencies.

The workshop focused on enhancing the integration of EMTs within national health care and preparedness systems, bringing together 30 participants from the health, humanitarian, academic and civil society sectors to support the development of national EMT roadmaps aligned with the Emergency Medical Team 2030 Strategy (EMT 2030) and regional action plan.

The Eastern Mediterranean Region continues to face some of the world’s most complex emergencies, including conflicts, disease outbreaks, natural disasters, climate-related events and population displacement.

Nine of the Region’s 22 countries and territories are fragile or conflict affected, and 117 million people will require humanitarian aid and urgent health assistance in 2026.

Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) is responding to 14 active emergencies, including conflict and disease outbreaks.

As challenges intensify, countries across the Region are increasingly investing in EMTs to strengthen rapid surge capacity and ensure rapid, high-quality emergency response.

With the World Health Organization’s Regional Office support, significant progress has been made in recent years, with a growing number of countries establishing EMTs within their systems and working towards WHO standards and international classification.

Oman is among the countries participating in regional EMT capacity-building and EMT 2030 implementation efforts, working with WHO to strengthen deployable emergency response capacities and pursuing global classification.

Yemen participates in regional EMT initiatives to build surge capacity and a national EMT framework to strengthen emergency deployment systems amid its ongoing humanitarian crisis.

In Libya, EMTs played a crucial role in addressing shortages of specialized staff during emergencies such as the recent, devastating floods.  

Egypt is actively engaged in WHO-led EMT training, planning and regional collaboration to build its national EMT programme and strengthen emergency response capabilities.

WHO is also supporting Iraq enhance its emergency response systems, including deployable health teams, coordination mechanisms and workforce development.

During the workshop, special focus was given to strengthening Lebanon’s capacity to establish a fully operational national EMT. Recurrent emergencies and ongoing socio-economic, security and health system challenges make developing a national EMT an urgent priority.

“Our goal in WHO is to ensure that every country has the national capacities required to rapidly mobilize and deploy trained teams when emergencies occur. Strong national capacities remain the foundation upon which classification and international recognition are built,” said Dr Annette Heinzelmann, Acting Emergency Director, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

“Resilient health systems must be able to absorb, adapt and transform in the face of shocks. National emergency medical teams are one of the most concrete expressions of that resilience,” said Dr Adham Rashad Ismail, Director of Programme Management, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

The workshop concluded with the 10 participating countries developing draft priority actions to help them elaborate roadmaps towards EMT frameworks, legislation, governance structures and human resources and administrative component planning.

WHO is committed to supporting countries develop national EMT programmes, strengthen training and validation systems, enhance regional collaboration and build sustainable EMT capacities for rapid emergency response.

Through these efforts, the WHO Regional Office contributes to the goals of the Global Health Emergency Corps, helping countries become better prepared, connected and equipped to respond to health emergencies and protect communities in times of crisis.