When I took office as Regional Director early in 2012, I laid out a strategic vision for action in the Region in five key areas (1), a vision that was endorsed by the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean at its Fifty-ninth session (EM/RC59/R.1). I am now midway through my term and this month, when the Regional Committee meets in Tunis for its sixty-first session, Ministers of Health and senior officials in Member States will discuss the current health situation in the Region and progress in regard to the five strategic health priorities.