CDC’s Middle East/North Africa Regional Office

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Note: This map and country list displays countries covered in the Middle East/North Africa geographic region. CDC engagement is only in countries with established U.S. diplomatic relations.

The Middle East/North Africa region is home to more than 879 million people and spans across 25 countries where over 22 languages are spoken. Historically, CDC had limited presence in the region, with activities focused on special populations or program specific activities. Today, CDC’s presence in the region includes the Middle East/North Africa regional office established in 2020 in Muscat, Oman, a country office in Pakistan, and technical experts based in the region.

In recent years, CDC has supported the establishment of several new National Public Health Institutes in the region and expansion of the Field Epidemiology Training Program to additional countries. CDC has also supported laboratory strengthening activities such as the Global Laboratory Leadership Program, and regional trainings to strengthen laboratory capacities, workforce development, and preparedness and response.

The Middle East/North Africa region is diverse socially, politically, and economically. Public health capacities in the region also differ from country to country. The establishment of the Middle East/North Africa regional office has strengthened health diplomacy efforts in the region and better positions CDC to work collaboratively with host countries and partners in the region to prepare for and respond to broad public health priorities and public health threats in the region. In addition to personnel in the region, subject matter experts at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, GA, provide technical support to these offices, as well as to partners across the region.

Key Areas of Focus

The Middle East/North Africa regional office’s activities reflect the agency-wide Global Health Strategy and are focused on responding to health threats by building core public health capacities in:

  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • Border health and migrant health
  • Immunization systems and vaccine planning
  • Infectious disease prevention and control
  • Laboratory systems
  • One Health
  • Surveillance and response
  • Workforce development
Countries included in the region:
    • Afghanistan
    • Algeria
    • Bahrain
    • Djibouti
    • Egypt
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Israel
    • Jordan
    • Kuwait
    • Lebanon
    • Libya
    • Morocco
    • Oman
    • Pakistan
    • Palestine
    • Qatar
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Somalia
    • Sudan
    • Syria
    • Tunisia
    • Türkiye
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Yemen
Regional Goals

CDC and partners coordinate closely and work together on strategic areas that reflect the agency-wide Global Health Strategy and include coordinated partnerships, trained workforce, and prepared systems to achieve the following goals:

  • Goal 1: Strengthened partnerships with defined roles and expectations for engagement
  • Goal 2: Increased opportunities for public health collaboration
  • Goal 3: Capable, flexible, and responsive regional public health workforce
  • Goal 4: Strengthened capacity of governments in the region to effectively manage and respond to public health emergencies
  • Goal 5: Regional capacity to address priority public health concerns
  • Goal 6: Presence of strong and well-supported laboratories
  • Goal 7: Responsive and reliable surveillance systems capable of describing disease trends and predicting and mitigating public health threats
  • Goal 8: Public health policies, guidance, and recommendations grounded in research and science
  • Goal 9: Decreased prevalence of vaccine preventable diseases
  • Goal 10: Elimination of diseases of public health importance