Middle East conflict, funding cuts push 30.4 million into humanitarian crisis, WHO

A deepening humanitarian and public health crisis grips the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported, as renewed conflict, disease outbreaks, food insecurity, and severe funding shortages push millions into emergency conditions. Sudan is at the epicenter, with 30.4 million people requiring humanitarian aid and 13.5 million displaced. The nation's health services face collapse amid dwindling resources and multiple disease outbreaks.

Renewed hostilities in the Middle East have exacerbated the situation, disrupting humanitarian operations and straining fragile health systems. Attacks on commercial shipping and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz threaten medical supply chains. Across the Greater Horn of Africa, over 37.8 million people face acute food insecurity, with Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti being the hardest hit.

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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 WHO is urgently appealing for $6.42 million to fund essential health and nutrition interventions in Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti for the next six months. This funding will support primary healthcare, disease surveillance, outbreak response, and the pre-positioning of medical supplies. However, funding shortages are already forcing health facilities to close or reduce services. In Somalia, over 260 health facilities have shut down or scaled back operations, impacting 1.62 million people. Yemen also faces reduced access to essential health services for an estimated 8.4 million people due to severe funding constraints.

The WHO's 2026 Health Emergencies Appeal for the region requires $633 million, but approximately 40% remains unfunded, jeopardizing critical emergency response operations. Humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate in other conflict-affected areas, including the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria, and Lebanon, where insecurity, displacement, and climate-related disasters overwhelm health services.

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humanitarian conditions continued to deteriorate across several conflict-affected countries, including the occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon, where insecurity, repeated displacement, disease outbreaks and climate-related disasters continue to overwhelm health services.