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Approach To Saving Lives Eastern Mediterranean Region - WHO
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New response to rising trauma injuries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region - WHO
The number of conflict-related deaths between 2020 and 2021 increased worldwide by 46 per cent, amid increasing violence in Afghanistan, Yemen and Ethiopia, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
To respond to this rise in trauma injuries, the WHO launched a new approach to saving lives and reducing disability, by ensuring that effective trauma care services are available during humanitarian emergencies.
“Up to 80 per cent of trauma deaths are occurring before people reach the hospital,” said Dr. Sara Halimah, Trauma Care Specialist for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. “That’s a major area of concern that tells you that the civilians - the regular family in Somalia living in Mogadishu or in Afghanistan, or Sudan or wherever it may be - they are struggling to reach hospitals. They are dying on the way.”
One in four conflict-related deaths could be avoided, simply by knowing how to stem bleeding and by making sure that communities have access to proper health materials.
But such measures are often impossible to find in fragile and conflict-affected settings where health systems have been weakened and are unable to respond to emergencies, the UN health agency stressed.
According to WHO data, injury and death rates in the Eastern Mediterranean are nearly three times higher in the region’s low-and middle-income countries than in its high-income counterparts.
One of the main problems that WHO identified in the Eastern Mediterranean is the use of increasingly sophisticated military weaponry which causes “very complex gunshot wounds, far more complex than what healthcare professionals were accustomed to treat”, Dr Halimah explained.
These injuries “will require multiple surgeries, rehabilitation for years to come, and will be a burden on a healthcare system that is already struggling”, the WHO officer continued
Advances in improvised explosive devices have also caused extensive injuries, in addition to the loss of a limb.
“The underlying factor is that all of these advancements in military tactics and weaponry are resulting in far more deaths from conflict among civilian settings in fragile, conflict-affected States, more than ever before,” said Dr. Halimah.
Far more people are also dying because of the “double-blast” tactic used widely by non-state actors, including in Mogadishu on 29 October last year.
“It’s a simple tactic: a blast goes off in a very populated, civilian setting, the bystanders rush in to save lives and that’s when they trigger the second blast and the intent is to kill far more,” Dr. Halimah explained.
Another major obstacle to emergency health care in fragile conflict-affected States is the lack of training for health professionals, along with a lack of basic medical supplies.
A full 98 per cent of health care standards come from developed countries that cannot be put into practice in Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Iraq or the occupied Palestinian Territories, said WHO, which warned that those most in need of trauma care are the least able to access it.
“There is often a misconception, that those who are injured are combatants and it’s not civilians, or it’s men of a certain age-range,” said WHO’s Dr. Halimah “Our research at WHO has shown that actually 40 per cent of civilians that are injured are children below the age of 15.”
With very few paediatricians working in countries including Somalia and Yemen, it is very unclear what is going to happen to those children, WHO warned. “Many of them die (or) are left with lifelong disabilities; they become economically and socially a burden to their families and the society at large, they don’t have a future,” said Dr. Halimah.
Speaking about his own personal experience as a trauma surgeon working in emergency settings, Dr Rick Brennan, Regional Emergency Director of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, said that “there is nothing more unsettling than hearing the shells land, hearing the ambulances heading towards your hospital, hearing the commotion at the front of the hospital as patients are transferred to trollies and wheelchairs or carried in, and then waiting at the emergency department, wondering what you are going to see, wondering about the number of injuries, the dramatic types of injuries: penetrating head wounds, open chest wounds, amputations, severe burns.”
Within 18 months of its launch, the WHO Regional Trauma Initiative has reached approximately 800,000 injured patients across fragile and conflict-affected countries, and responded to over 200 mass casualty incidents. Central to the initiative is support for national and local trauma care services.
-ends-
STORY: Approach to Saving Lives: Eastern Mediterranean Region, WHO
TRT: 3’34”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 29 March 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide shot, press room with moderator at the podium and screens visible.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Sara Halimah, Trauma Care Specialist for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: “Up to 80 per cent of traumatic deaths are occurring before people reach the hospital. Okay, that’s a major area of concern that tells you that the civilians - the regular family in Somalia living in Mogadishu, or in Afghanistan, or Sudan or wherever it may be - they are struggling to reach hospitals. They are dying on the way.”
- Medium shot from behind the podium, camera and press room in the background
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Sara Halimah, Trauma Care Specialist for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: “The development of military weaponry has resulted in very complex gunshot wounds, far more complex than what healthcare professionals were accustomed to treat. Today, the type of injuries that we are seeing caused by gunshot wounds are resulting in very complex injuries that will require multiple surgeries, rehabilitation for years to come, and will be a burden on a healthcare system that is already struggling.”
- Two-shot, close-up, technicians in the room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Sara Halimah, Trauma Care Specialist for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: “We witnessed this in Afghanistan, where a typical eight-year-old child would not only suffer from a severe limb injury from stepping on an improvised device but also extensive damage to torsos, so the underlying factor is all of these advancements in military tactics and weaponry are resulting in far more deaths from conflict among civilian settings in fragile, conflict-affected States, more than ever before.”
- Close-up, of moderator Dr Christian Lindmeier, WHO, microphones in foreground, screen visible in background.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Sara Halimah, Trauma Care Specialist for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: “What we are seeing is certain tactics by non-State actors where we have the ‘double-blast issue’. This, as an example, happened in Mogadishu (on) 29 October late last year. It’s a simple tactic: a blast goes off in a very populated, civilian setting, the bystanders rush in to save lives and that’s when they trigger the second blast, and the intent is to kill far more.”
- Close-up, journalist in room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Sara Halimah, Trauma Care Specialist for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: “There is often a misconception, that those who are injured are combatants and it’s not civilians, or it’s men of a certain age-range. Our research at WHO has shown that actually 40 per cent of civilians that are injured are children below the age of 15. So, not even the legal age of 18, below the age of 15, that’s what we classify as a pediatric age-range.”
- Medium shot: technicians in the room, screen in the background.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Rick Brennan, Regional Emergency Director of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: “There is nothing more unsettling than hearing the shells land, hearing the ambulances heading towards your hospital, hearing the commotion at the front of the hospital as patients are transferred to trollies and wheelchairs or carried in, and then waiting at the emergency department, wondering what you are going to see, wondering about the number of injuries, the dramatic types of injuries: penetrating head wounds, open chest wounds, amputations, severe burns.”
- Medium shot, moderator Dr Christian Lindmeier, WHO, in foreground with screens behind him.
- Close-up, technician’s laptop
- Wide shot: screen with camera above and technicians at the table in the room
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
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- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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