December 13^th, 2020—Conventional paradigms of urban governance continue to be challenged by COVID-19. Since the onset of the pandemic, cities have varied in their efforts to mitigate the spread and impact of the virus. The 8^th of December 2020 marked the beginning of the three-day Annual Business and Technical Meeting of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network, in which Healthy Cities Network (HCN) member cities, municipalities, partners and stakeholders are given a platform to engage in political and strategic dialogue, exchange experiences  and peer-to-peer learning—with a particular focus on the implications  of COVID-19.

EMRO representatives, alongside the Islamic Republic of Iran, participated in a roundtable discussion and delivered a keynote speech. Dr. Mohamed Assai Ardakani, Senior Adviser to Iran’s Minister of Health and Medical Education, represented Iran for the duration of the conference.  Dr. Maha El-Adawy, the Director of the Division of Healthier Populations , was among the respondents to Dr Assai’s keynote speech and a participant in a moderated discussion with the other speakers.

Dr. Assai noted the high levels of political commitment to HCP efforts in Sahand that played a crucial role in facilitating the city’s COVID-19 response efforts.

Dr Assai compared COVID-19 incidence figures with  neighboring cities in the same province, namely Oskou, Ilkhchi and East Azerbaijan. Sahand has shown the lowest number of incidences per-1000 people, and the lowest number of deaths per-1000 people—10.9 and 6.9, respectively. This is attributed to the successful implementation of COVID-19 response efforts, which stem from Iran’s equitable “Health for all, by all” healthcare philosophy. The response reflects the capacity of implementing a multisectoral approach to the different social and economic challenges of the city that were developed as part of the HCP.

Dr  El-Adawy’s statement reflected on Dr. Assai’s keynote speech by delving into a broader, regional perspective on the HCP in the Eastern Mediterranean and its response to COVID-19.

She described the HCP’s history in the Eastern Mediterranean, from its introduction in 1996 to the establishment of the EMR Healthy Cities Network in 2012. According to Dr El-Adawy, Healthy Cities accreditation is awarded for 3 years upon the performance of an evaluation that measures the performance against 80 HCP indicators, and subsequently ensures that at least 80% of the indicators have been achieved. Fourteen cities have been awarded with “Healthy Cities” accreditation in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and UAE and soon in Iran.

 “During COVID-19, Healthy Cities showed more compliance with public health measures and less transmission of infection leading to less cases than others,” she said.

Dr. El-Adawy also explored cross-regional areas of potential cooperation, suggesting that other regions can use or adapt the EMRO Healthy Cities indicators to facilitate experience exchange and conduct mutual field visits once it is feasible to do so. She recounted the 2020 technical Healthy Cities Network visit to Athens, emphasizing the value of experience exchange as a tool to scale-up the Healthy Cities Network.

The Annual Business and Technical Meeting of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network has given attendees the opportunity to celebrate the resilience of cities across the six WHO regions, and it has highlighted the necessity for meaningful investments in recovery efforts as cities across the globe prepare to co-exist with COVID-19.