Clashes in the Middle East, coupled with slashed budgets, plunge 30.4 million people into desperate need of aid, says World Health Organization

The World Health Organization has sounded the alarm on a deepening humanitarian and public health crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, where renewed conflict, disease outbreaks, food insecurity, and severe funding shortages are exacerbating emergency conditions, with 27 attacks on health care recorded in one month.

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A staggering 30.4 million people in Sudan are in need of humanitarian assistance, while 13.5 million are displaced, and the country is grappling with multiple disease outbreaks and dwindling resources that threaten the collapse of essential health services.

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Renewed hostilities in the Middle East have heightened risks to civilians, disrupted humanitarian operations, and placed additional pressure on already fragile health systems, with strikes in the Islamic Republic of Iran and parts of the Gulf, attacks on commercial shipping, and disruptions along the Strait of Hormuz increasing threats to medical supply chains and healthcare delivery.

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More than 37.8 million people across the Greater Horn of Africa are facing or are projected to face acute food insecurity, with nearly 26 million people in Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti among those hardest hit, prompting the WHO to appeal for $6.42 million to sustain emergency health and nutrition interventions in these countries over the next six months.

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The funding will support primary healthcare, lifesaving nutrition services, disease surveillance, outbreak response, community engagement, and the pre-positioning of essential medicines and medical supplies, as humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate across several conflict-affected countries.

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The occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon are among the countries where insecurity, repeated displacement, disease outbreaks, and climate-related disasters are overwhelming health services, with funding shortages forcing the closure or reduction of health services in several countries.

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In Somalia, more than 260 health facilities have either shut down or drastically reduced operations, cutting access to healthcare for 1.62 million people, while in Yemen, severe funding constraints have left an estimated 8.4 million people across 141 districts with reduced access to essential health services.

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The WHO's 2026 Health Emergencies Appeal for the Eastern Mediterranean Region requires $633 million, but about 40 per cent remains unfunded, threatening emergency response operations across both acute and protracted crises.

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A total of 27 attacks on health facilities were documented in June alone, resulting in 10 deaths and 75 injuries, with Lebanon recording the highest number of attacks at 21, followed by the occupied Palestinian territory with five attacks and Sudan with one.

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From January to June 2026, the WHO documented 369 attacks on healthcare facilities across the region, almost half of all attacks reported globally during the period, claiming 761 lives and leaving 1,084 people injured.

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Violence against healthcare workers and facilities continues to deprive millions of access to lifesaving services while weakening already fragile health systems, with the WHO warning of heightened disease threats across the region, including cholera, acute watery diarrhoea, measles, dengue, malaria, hepatitis E, meningitis, and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.

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Although no case of Bundibugyo virus disease, a form of Ebola, has been reported within the Eastern Mediterranean Region, fragile health systems, population movements, and surveillance gaps have increased the risk of cross-border transmission, prompting the WHO to designate Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti as priority countries for intensified preparedness.

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Additional readiness measures are being implemented in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Egypt, and Morocco due to their roles as major travel and transit hubs, with the WHO strengthening surveillance, laboratory readiness, rapid response capacity, infection prevention, and community engagement across high-risk countries.

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The WHO has pre-positioned viral haemorrhagic fever supplies and emergency medical kits, and continues to support countries across the region with emergency medical supplies, outbreak response, nutrition programmes, mental health services, health worker training, and restoration of essential health services despite mounting operational challenges.

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The organisation has identified four immediate priorities: strengthening emergency preparedness, expanding integrated health and nutrition services, enhancing disease surveillance and outbreak response, and sustaining essential health services, including maternal, child, and trauma care, in conflict-affected and disaster-hit communities.