The Executive Board of WHO in Geneva, with the participation of Syria, resumed deliberations of its 130th session for discussing articles on the reform of the organization and the progress made regarding the the health-related Millennium Development Goals.

Health Minister Dr. al-Wa'el al-Halaqi spoke about the current health status related to the health-related Millennium Development Goals in the Middle East, saying that the under-five mortality rate was expected to decline by 32% between 1990 and 2010 in the countries of the region, with an annual decline of 1.9%.

Dr. al-Halaqi added that on September 2011, the United Nations had announced that Egypt, Oman, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates had achieved a two-thirds decline in this regard.
Minister Al-Halaqi said that recent years have witnessed a considerable increase in vaccination rates in many countries of the region which reached 90% in 2010.

The Minister added that 52.000 woman and 510.000 children die every year in the region due to the complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

He also noted that tuberculosis; malaria and AIDS kill about 246.000 people every year in the region and the number of deaths among AIDS patients in 2011 had increased from 22.000 to 53.000.
Dr. al-Halaqi indicated to the lack of significant resources to achieve the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals and tackle other health problems including chronic diseases.