The 59th Session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean opens in Cairo ...

The 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean will be held on 1-4 October 2012 at the premises of the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt. Functioning as WHO highest governing body at the regional level, with membership of the 23 Ministers of Health of the Eastern Mediterranean Region countries, the Ministerial meeting will address the five strategic priorities of Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean and his vision to strengthen work with Member States. This is the first session since Dr Ala Alwan assumed his duties as WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean in February 2012. Participating in the discussions are Ministers of Health, their representatives, Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director General, Dr Ala Alwan, representatives of national, regional and international organizations and agencies concerned with health, as well as experts from WHO headquarters and the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. Noncommunicable diseases, notably cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory conditions, represent major causes of death. Globally, noncommunicable diseases alone cause more deaths than those caused by all other causes and they strike the populations of the developing communities the hardest. These diseases have reached epidemic levels. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, noncommunicable diseases account for 53% of all deaths and this percentage may be as...
Source: WHO EMRO - Press releases - Category: Middle East Health Source Type: news