OIC and U.S. forge partnership to eradicate Polio

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29 July 2009
Jeddah -- The United States and The Organization of Islamic Conference (OICOIC) have forged a partnership within the framework of a global initiative to eradicate Polio.

A U.S. delegation, which visited Jeddah, recently held talks with OICOIC officials at its headquarters in the port city.

The partnership is the outcome of this Jeddah meeting (on July 26) between the two sides, which focused on in-depth studies and discussions to follow up the necessary action in conjunction with the initiative that US President Barack Obama announced in an address to the Muslim World, in Cairo on June 4, 2009, on a new global effort of the US with the OICOIC to eradicate polio.

The US delegation comprised of representatives from the US diplomatic representatives based in Saudi Arabia, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the US Department of Health and Human Services and the USAID.

The two sides at the meeting, agreed to continue cooperation and coordination in specified areas such as advocacy, fund- raising and technical support, said an OICOIC press release issued in Jeddah yesterday.

The Heads of States of the OICOIC Member States at the Third Extraordinary Islamic Conference held in Makkah in December 2005 decided to take effective measures to eradicate poliomyelitis.

The First and Second Conferences of the OICOIC Health Ministers held in 2007 and 2009 respectively, called on political and religious leaders in the OICOIC Member States to help create a movement of solidarity for polio eradication and further urged the OICOIC Member States where poliomyelitis is still prevalent to enhance political commitment; intensify eradication efforts and mobilize national financial resources to meet the shortfalls.

The Conference of Health Ministers further urged initiation of an OIC Polio Eradication Program, with the OICOIC Secretary General to take the lead, in collaboration with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to assist in the process of eradication of polio from the remaining OICOIC Member States.

The OICOIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who has been in active cooperation with the WHO in efforts to eradicate polio since he assumed office in 2005 and who has appealed to the OICOIC Member States on every occasion to provide resources for the Global Polio Initiative, was honored in 2007 with the prestigious "Polio Eradication Champion Award” by the Rotary International as a recognition of his personal contribution to the cause of eradicating polio.

The Secretary General has recently written letters to the Presidents of Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan to congratulate them on launching of National Immunization Campaigns in their respective countries in 2009.

Meanwhile, he requested the International Islamic Fiqh Academy to engage with religious leaders and issue relevant religious edicts (fatwas) to counter baseless rumors and misinformation surrounding the polio eradication campaigns and vaccines.

© Saudi Press Agency 2009