The World Health Organization, WHO, has raised fresh alarm over a worsening humanitarian and public health crisis across the Eastern Mediterranean Region, warning that renewed conflict, disease outbreaks, food insecurity and severe funding shortages are pushing millions deeper into emergency conditions.

And 27 attacks on health care facilities were recorded in one month alone, according to the WHO. 'Sudan remains the region's largest humanitarian emergency, with 30.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, 13.5 million displaced, multiple disease outbreaks and dwindling resources threatening the collapse of essential health services,' the report said.

But the situation is not just dire in Sudan - the entire Eastern Mediterranean Region is affected. The WHO has reported that over 37.8 million people across the Greater Horn of Africa are facing, or are projected to face, acute food insecurity. Nearly 26 million people in Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti are among those hardest hit.

And in a desperate bid to stem the crisis, the WHO has appealed for $6.42 million to sustain emergency health and nutrition interventions in Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti over the next six months. The funding, it said, will support primary healthcare, lifesaving nutrition services, disease surveillance, outbreak response, community engagement and the pre-positioning of essential medicines and medical supplies.

But it's not just the WHO that's sounding the alarm - the entire international community is stepping in to help. The UN health agency said it has strengthened surveillance, laboratory readiness, rapid response capacity, infection prevention and community engagement across high-risk countries while pre-positioning viral haemorrhagic fever supplies and emergency medical kits.

And what's at stake here is not just lives, but entire communities. As the WHO report noted, 'the organisation's 2026 Health Emergencies Appeal for the Eastern Mediterranean Region requires 633 million dollars, but about 40 per cent remains unfunded, threatening emergency response operations across both acute and protracted crises.'

'Violence against healthcare workers and facilities continues to deprive millions of access to lifesaving services while weakening already fragile health systems.'

  • WHO

Key Facts:

  • 30.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
  • 13.5 million displaced in Sudan
  • 37.8 million people facing, or projected to face, acute food insecurity in the Greater Horn of Africa
  • 26 million people in Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti hardest hit by food insecurity
  • $6.42 million appealed by WHO to sustain emergency health and nutrition interventions over the next six months
  • 633 million dollars required by WHO's 2026 Health Emergencies Appeal for the Eastern Mediterranean Region
  • 40 per cent of WHO's 2026 Health Emergencies Appeal remains unfunded