By Chiamaka Egwu
The World Health Organisation, WHO, has warned that demand for mental health and psychosocial support, MHPSS, is rising sharply across the Eastern Mediterranean Region, where an estimated 117 million people require humanitarian assistance amid multiple emergencies, conflict, displacement and pressure on fragile health systems.
The global health body urged countries in the Region to urgently integrate mental health and psychosocial support into emergency preparedness, response and recovery, warning that persistent shortages of human, financial and institutional resources are leaving millions without needed care.
The call was made during a virtual week held ahead of the 73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, where Member States reviewed implementation of the Regional Action Plan for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies, 2024–2030.
WHO said the discussion highlighted progress made by countries, but also exposed significant gaps in MHPSS capacity and resources, as well as practical lessons from countries responding to emergencies.
The Eastern Mediterranean Region is among the world’s most emergency-affected areas. According to WHO, it is currently responding to 14 graded emergencies in 2026, including eight classified as Grade 3, the highest level of emergency under its grading system.
The health agency said the escalation of violence in the Middle East since early 2026 had evolved into a multi-country health emergency, resulting in mass casualties and displacement while placing already fragile health systems under severe pressure.
It said the crisis was also increasing public health risks and disrupting access to essential health services across the Region.
Mental health burden rising
WHO said the scale and persistence of emergencies were contributing to a growing burden of mental, neurological and substance-use conditions.
According to the agency, mental health conditions affect an estimated 15.7 per cent of people in the Region, higher than the global average.
However, access to mental health care remains severely limited, with treatment gaps reaching up to 90 per cent in some low- and middle-income countries.
WHO said the situation was being compounded by shortages of trained personnel, inadequate financing and weak institutional capacity, leaving vulnerable populations with limited access to services when they are most needed.
The Region also hosts 46 per cent of the world’s internally displaced people and is home to three of the world’s largest displacement crises, further increasing the need for psychosocial support.
WHO stressed that MHPSS should no longer be treated as an optional or secondary component of humanitarian response but as an essential health service embedded across the emergency cycle.
WHO lists four priorities
To translate the regional action plan into practice, WHO urged Member States to integrate MHPSS into national emergency preparedness and response plans and disaster risk-management plans.
Countries were also urged to ensure predictable financing for mental health and psychosocial services, build local evidence to guide interventions, and empower affected communities and people with lived experience to participate in designing and delivering responses.
The agency said strengthening community-based support and health-system capacity would be essential as emergencies become more frequent and complex.
WHO said ensuring the availability of and access to mental health and psychosocial support was critical not only to protecting the wellbeing of individuals affected by crises, but also to strengthening the resilience of communities and health systems across the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
