Professor Russell Mannion has been working as an expert consultant for WHO on a project to support the implementation of a universal health coverage programme across all countries in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.
The Region is home to over 650 million people living in highly diverse socioeconomic and geopolitical country contexts, ranging from war torn countries including, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen to super rich oil nations such as Qatar and Kuwait. The first publication arising from this ongoing work, co-authored with WHO colleagues from Iran and Egypt on bed capacity planning in hospitals and regions, has been published and can be downloaded. The findings have relevance for all health systems, not least in the context of bed capacity planning during pandemics.