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STORY: WHO / TEDROS PRESSER 18 MAR 26
TRT: 06:35
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WHO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 MARCH 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Med shot, WHO’s logo at headquarters
18 MARCH 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The conflict in the Middle East continues to impact the health of people across the region. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, more than 1400 civilian deaths have been reported, almost 900 in Lebanon and 20 in Israel. Thousands of people have also been injured in all three countries.”
4. Wide shot, press briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Up to 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran, and over 1 million in Lebanon. Many are living in overcrowded shelters, which have the potential to rapidly increase health risks.”
6. Wide shot, press briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“And in Syria, more than 100,000 people have recently arrived from Lebanon.”
8. Wide shot, press briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Attacks on health care continue to be reported. In Lebanon, WHO has verified 28 attacks, with 30 deaths and 25 injuries. In Iran, WHO has verified 20 attacks, with 9 deaths. And in Israel, WHO has verified two attacks on health care. Attacks on health care are a violation of international law.”
10. Wide shot, press briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“WHO has also released 2 million US dollars from the Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support the response in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.”
12. Wide shot, press briefing room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“WHO is doing whatever we can to save lives and prevent suffering. But as always, the best medicine is peace.”
14. Wide shot, press briefing room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The improvement in child survival over the past two decades is one of the great success stories of global health. In 2000, more than ten million children died before their fifth birthday. Today, that number has been cut by more than half to 4.9 million deaths in 2024, according to new estimates published today by WHO, UNICEF and other partners.”
16. Wide shot, press briefing room
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Millions of children are alive today because countries and partners invested in proven solutions: vaccines, skilled care at birth, treatment for severe acute malnutrition, and stronger primary health care.”
18. Wide shot, press briefing room
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Of course, 4.9 million child deaths is still 4.9 million too many.”
20. Wide shot, press briefing room
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest under-five mortality in the world, losing around 2.8 million young children in 2024. Every day, about 6,300 newborns die.”
23. Wide shot, press briefing room
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The most common causes are complications of prematurity, labour and delivery. If children survive the first month, malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea continue to claim many young lives.”
25. Wide shot, press briefing room
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Conflict, humanitarian crises and funding pressures are putting essential services at risk in many countries. But we know what works – there are solutions. By strengthening primary health care, expanding immunization, improving maternal and newborn care, and ensuring every child has access to nutrition and lifesaving treatment, we can accelerate progress again.”
27. Wide shot, press briefing room
28. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Many countries rely on advice from WHO about which vaccines to include in their routine immunization schedules, who should be vaccinated at what age, with how many doses, and so on. That advice is shaped by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, or SAGE, a group of independent experts who meet twice a year to review the latest evidence and advise WHO. SAGE concluded its first meeting for the year last week.”
29. Wide shot, press briefing room
30. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“SAGE has updated its 2018 recommendation to say that countries with a high burden of typhoid disease should consider a booster at around five years of age to maintain protection.”
31. Wide shot, press briefing room
32. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“SAGE continues to recommend that countries should consider routine vaccination against COVID-19 for groups at the highest-risk of severe disease, including older people, people in care homes and those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.”
33. Wide shot, press briefing room
34. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“On polio, SAGE recommended that countries that are using three doses of inactivated vaccine may reduce the use of oral polio vaccine from three doses to two. These recommendations are important for improving the safety and impact of vaccines on the path to polio eradication.”
35. Wide shot, press briefing room
36. SOUNDBITE (English) Katherine O’Brien, Director, Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The bacterial forms of meningitis are serious, life threatening conditions. So at any point when there's an outbreak of meningitis, it's a serious concern for a health department, for a community, for a school, for populations, and of course, for WHO as well.”
37. Wide shot, press briefing room
38. SOUNDBITE (English) Katherine O’Brien, Director, Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, World Health Organization (WHO):
“With this particular outbreak. Meningitis and meningococcal meningitis in particular is known to have outbreaks in adolescents, young adults. It is transmitted from person to person and especially through close contact. It's sometimes referred to as a kissing disease.”
39. Wide shot, press briefing room
40. SOUNDBITE (English) Katherine O’Brien, Director, Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Always a very high concern whenever there is a meningitis outbreak and the rapid response from the health authorities to identify it, to know which bacteria it is, and to respond appropriately with the usual measures of contact tracing response to those who have been in contact. And there is a role for vaccines, but it's not the primary, response to an outbreak.”
41. Wide shot, press briefing room
42. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The withdrawal of Argentina from WHO actually is a loss for Argentina and also for the rest of the world. And health security, as you know, needs universality and it will make Argentina unsafe. I think that has to be very clear.”
43. Wide shot, press briefing room
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned today (18 Mar) that the conflict in the Middle East continues to take a heavy toll on civilian health across the region, with more than 1,400 civilian deaths reported in Iran, almost 900 in Lebanon and 20 in Israel, and thousands more injured across all three countries.
Briefing journalists in Geneva, Tedros said up to 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran and over one million in Lebanon, with many living in overcrowded shelters that he warned have the potential to rapidly increase health risks. He added that more than 100,000 people have recently arrived in Syria from Lebanon.
The WHO chief also flagged ongoing attacks on healthcare facilities, saying WHO has verified 28 attacks in Lebanon resulting in 30 deaths and 25 injuries, 20 attacks in Iran with nine deaths, and two attacks in Israel. “Attacks on health care are a violation of international law,” he said. WHO has released two million US dollars from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support the response in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.
On child mortality, Tedros highlighted what he called one of the great success stories of global health, noting that the number of children dying before their fifth birthday has been cut by more than half since 2000; from over ten million deaths to 4.9 million in 2024, according to new estimates published by WHO, UNICEF and other partners. He attributed the progress to investments in vaccines, skilled care at birth, treatment for severe acute malnutrition and stronger primary health care, while cautioning that 4.9 million child deaths remains “4.9 million too many.”
Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest under-five mortality, losing around 2.8 million young children in 2024, with approximately 6,300 newborns dying every day. Tedros said conflict, humanitarian crises and funding pressures are putting essential services at risk in many countries but stressed that solutions exist through strengthening primary health care, expanding immunization and improving maternal and newborn care.
Tedros also presented updated recommendations from WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), including a new guidance that countries with a high burden of typhoid disease should consider a booster dose at around five years of age. SAGE also continues to recommend routine COVID-19 vaccination for high-risk groups, including older people, care home residents and the immunocompromised, and updated its guidance on polio vaccination.
WHO's Director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, Katherine O'Brien, addressed a meningitis outbreak, describing bacterial meningitis as a serious, life-threatening condition. She noted that meningococcal meningitis is known to affect adolescents and young adults and spreads through close contact, adding that rapid identification and contact tracing are the primary response tools, with vaccines playing a supporting role.
Closing the briefing, Tedros addressed Argentina's withdrawal from WHO, saying it represents a loss both for Argentina and for the rest of the world. “Health security, as you know, needs universality and it will make Argentina unsafe,” he said.
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