{"id":9362,"date":"2021-10-13T14:53:41","date_gmt":"2021-10-13T12:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/?post_type=news&p=9362"},"modified":"2021-10-21T10:39:33","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T08:39:33","slug":"accelerating-health-emergency-preparedness-and-response-in-the-eastern-mediterranean","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/accelerating-health-emergency-preparedness-and-response-in-the-eastern-mediterranean\/","title":{"rendered":"Accelerating Health Emergency Preparedness and Response in the Eastern Mediterranean Region"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a statement made at the <\/strong>68th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean<\/strong> on Accelerating<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>Health Emergency Preparedness and Response in the EMRO Region.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Honourable Chair, Distinguished Delegates,<\/p>\n

The World Heart Federation welcomes the opportunity to address the Regional Committee on one of the most critical subjects of our time.<\/p>\n

We congratulate the EMRO secretariat on this comprehensive report on health emergency response and recognize the successes achieved and the barriers still faced but we wish to focus on a facet of it<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken an incalculable toll on the mental, physical, and fiscal health of our societies. This past year has united us in facing a truly global challenge. But it has also exposed deep, enduring fault lines and inequities in the population health and health systems of nearly every country represented here today.<\/p>\n

The combined impacts of cardiac complications due to COVID-19, and interruptions to crucial medical interventions and ongoing care for people living with cardiovascular diseases will almost certainly exacerbate the already huge burden borne by stressed and often ill-equipped health systems.<\/p>\n

We therefore implore you to urgently address the key risk factors and preventative measures that can help fight cardiovascular diseases in the context of health emergencies such as COVID-19. We call on Member States of the Eastern Mediterranean Region to:<\/p>\n