Covid-19 In The Middle East And North Africa Region: An Urgent Call For Reliable, Disaggregated And Openly Shared Data

### Summary box\n\nAs of December 2020, Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have reported more than 3.2 million confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 and 55 000 deaths from COVID-19.1 The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation noted a threefold increase in the number of deaths in the region between September and December 2020, with COVID-19 projected to become the fourth leading cause of death by early 2021.2 Yet significant discrepancies in both indicators and quality of data reported across the MENA region limit our understanding of the scope and the implications of the pandemic in the Arab context. The MENA region is distinctly conflict-affected and displacement-affected, which may foster unique vulnerabilities to SARS-CoV-2 transmission and illness severity. Low testing rates, limited data on excess mortality and poor vital registration systems, which are further weakened in the context of chronic political unrest, all contribute to consistent under-reporting in the region.\n\nIn order to develop a timely and context-informed response to the pandemic and more recently to the vaccination statistics, publicly available and disaggregated data …