#COVID19 has had a major impact on people’s #mentalhealth. Thanks, @DoctorJas of @WHOPhilippines, for your dedicated work to increase access to quality mental health services in the 🇵🇭 & serve the most vulnerable. Your work makes us #ProudToBeWHO.
https://t.co/YXTAp1jzmv #WhosWHO
“Wag mag paloko sa vape at sigarilyo.”
“Don’t be fooled by vapes and cigarettes.”
Proud to team up in Filipino with Philippines Secretary of Health, Dr Teodoro J. Herbosa, to raise awareness on the harms of tobacco and vaping, and to #BeatNCDs.
Should @WHO formally declare the #ClimateCrisis a public health emergency of international concern?
The independent Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health – convened by @WHO_Europe – concludes that the evidence for doing so is abundantly clear.
From the international spread of vector-borne diseases to the health impacts of extreme weather events, global heating, food insecurity and air pollution – the Commission’s report, timed with the World Health Assembly, doesn’t mince words.
The 11 Commissioners, including former health and climate ministers, warn: “Far from being a fading priority or fake news, climate change poses an immediate and long-term threat to health, economic, food, water, environmental, personal, community and national security.”
The work of the PECCH resonates strongly with us in the Western Pacific, because many of these realities are already our daily experience.
For us, climate change is not a distant threat. It is already affecting health, livelihoods and security.
From small island states facing rising seas, to cities exposed to heatwaves, flooding and typhoons, and communities burdened by air pollution and climate-sensitive diseases—we see the impacts every day.
That's why we at @WHOWPRO are advancing @TheLancet Commission on Sea Level Rise, Health and Justice - to strengthen evidence, inform policy and place equity at the centre of action.
Pacific island countries have long sounded the alarm. Their call to recognize climate change as a health emergency reflects decades of lived experience. And we fully support elevating climate change within national and global security agendas.
We must act together - through whole-of-government and whole-of-society responses, with health at the centre.
My sincere appreciation to the PECCH Chair – the former Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir; to my brother, WHO/Europe Regional Director Dr @hans_kluge and Robb Butler, his Special Representative for Climate and Health; and to all Commissioners for their leadership and commitment in advancing this vital agenda. 🙏
At the height of the Cambodia-Thailand border conflict in 2025, approximately 650,000 people in Cambodia were displaced.
Displacement, loss of income and uncertainty can significantly affect #MentalHealth. Yet, psychological distress often remains unrecognized, presenting instead through physical symptoms.
This underscores the importance of embedding mental health and trauma-informed care within routine health services.
Since 2025, @WHO is working with the Ministry of Health in Cambodia to:
📗 Support the roll out of trauma-informed counselling guidelines for health professionals.
👩🏻⚕️ Strengthen the capacity of frontline health workers, NGO workers and Village Health Support Groups to recognize distress and provide psychological first aid.
When primary health workers are equipped with basic psychological first aid, they can provide mental health support to people who come to seek care, ensuring conditions are less likely to become severe.
Cambodia became the 10th country globally and the 2nd in the Western Pacific Region to join the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health in 2025.
In collaboration with WHO and partners, a national action plan for #MentalHealth is being developed and includes efforts to strengthen service delivery, invest in the health workforce, and build resilient systems –expanding access to quality mental health care nationwide.
Learn more: https://t.co/W8VktSM989
📷WHO / Enric Catala Contreras
A tribute of appreciation from a passenger repatriated in #Tenerife, #Spain, from the hantavirus-affected Hondius. I can only imagine the sigh of relief. Thank you, Spain.
A gentle but important reminder from Dr. Jasmine Vergara during her keynote address at the #2026CrisisHotlineSummit on the importance of collaboration across sectors in building a more responsive and humane crisis response system.
@WHOWPRO@WHOPhilippines@DoctorJas
Access to mental health care in Cambodia remains limited – but a transformation is underway.
Through workforce capacity-building under the @WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health, the country is expanding access and strengthening systems.
This photo story highlights five professionals at the heart of this change – and their vision for the future. View the story: https://t.co/gPStKFl63x
#MentalHealthMatters
📷WHO / Enric Catala Contreras
Swiss authorities have confirmed a case of #hantavirus identified in a passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship.
He had responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing the passengers of the health event, and presented himself to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, and is receiving care.
In line with the International Health Regulations (IHR), WHO is working with relevant countries to support international contact tracing, to ensure that those potentially exposed are monitored and that any further disease spread is limited.
The type of virus in this outbreak has been confirmed as Andes hantavirus by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases @nicd_sa, South Africa and the Geneva University Hospitals @hug_ge, Switzerland
The support of the Institut Pasteur de Dakar @PasteurDakar, Senegal and the Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud @ANLIS_Malbran, Argentina has also been critical in responding to this event.
As of 6 May, there are 8 cases, 3 of whom are confirmed as hantavirus by laboratory testing.
WHO will continue to work with countries to ensure that the patients, contacts, passengers and crew have the information and support they need to stay safe and prevent spread.
In a galaxy not so far away… Good health is built on everyday choices. Prevention is the strongest force we have.
May the 4th be with you — and happy birthday to my son, Amanuel! @emmanuel_tag
Midweek #reset needed! Support your mental health at work.
Learn techniques to manage stress and stay mindful of changes in your mental health. If needed, reach out for support from a trusted friend, family member, colleague, supervisor or health professional.
#MentalHealthMatters
Being online can open up opportunities for children and young people to learn, connect and express themselves. At the same time, it can also present challenges for #MentalHealth and well-being.
Curious about how digital use is shaping the mental health of young people? Join our webinar on Mental Health and Digital Use for Youth:
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⌚ 12:00-13:20 Manila time (GMT+8)
🔗 Register here: https://t.co/uk94EFsb4i
This regional webinar will also highlight practical actions to promote safe, healthy and inclusive digital environments for young people. Register today!
#OneWorld. #OneHealth.
That's long been a slogan - describing the inextricable connection between human, animal and ecosystem health.
No single discipline or sector can properly manage the threat of disease in a globalized world.
Countries in the Western Pacific region have realized they need to act, both individually and collectively, to address infectious diseases.
The painful lessons of #COVID19 have underscored that a piecemeal approach to One Health simply doesn’t work.
But what are the steps and investments needed to move from words to action?
I spell this out in my @WorldHealthDay op-ed for @wef ⬇️
Science is a powerful tool, if we choose it, and use it.
This World Health Day, WHO has a simple message:
Together for Health. #StandWithScience.
#WHD2026
Good morning, world! 🌎
We have spectacular new high-resolution images of our home planet, all of us looking back through the Orion capsule window at our Artemis II astronauts as they continue their journey to the Moon.
Selamat datang - welcome! - to Malaysia, @DrTedros, on your relatively brief but meaningful first-ever mission to one of our WHO Western Pacific Member States.
A great opportunity for our @WHOMalaysia multi-country office (that also covers Brunei Darussalam and Singapore) and @WHO Global Service Centre based in Kuala Lumpur to interact with you - and for you to meet with government partners as well to discuss, and learn about, our regional and country-level support to an ambitious health agenda.
From tackling rising rates of heart disease and other #NCDs to strengthening the national public health system’s ability to provide ever-wider coverage, Malaysia’s challenges and opportunities mirror that of our region as a whole.
We at WHO will continue to provide steadfast support to the Ministry of Health and other partners in their quest to achieve #HealthForAll.
@DrRabiWHO@DrDzul@KKMPutrajaya@bernamadotcom@BernamaTV@ASEAN@aseanfoundation
Touched by this moment from @bts_bighit Comeback. “Nerve-wracking… nervous… anxious… scared…” They openly acknowledged them. Strength isn’t the absence of anxiety, but choosing to keep going, to “keep swimming together”.
Thank you BTS! #MentalHealth 💜 @BTS_twt