ISLAMABAD, Feb 7 (APP) Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Steering Committee on Health (SCH) reviewed the COVID-19 situation among the member states, exchanged ideas to contain the pandemic and discussed ways of achieving equity in access to vaccines and post COVID-19 recovery plans.
The 14th meeting of the SCH was held at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the chairmanship of the UAE ministry of health and prevention, a press release said on Monday.
The meeting was held in a hybrid format and attended by senior health officials from Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey.
The meeting stressed the need for increased investment in health domain by the member states and the need for strengthening health systems to be able to withstand future challenges.
The meeting also called on the member states to scale up their research capacities and build synergies with a view of building self-resilience, including developing their own vaccines and medicine.
High-level officials from the relevant OIC institutions (COMSTECH, SESRIC, ICESCO and IsDB) and international organizations (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, GAVI and Global Fund to fight Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS) also attended the meeting.
In his remarks, ambassador Askar Mussinov, the OIC Assistant Secretary General for Science & Technology, briefed the meeting about the OIC’s initiatives in the fight against COVID-19 among its member states.
He underscored the need for integrated and focused actions and broader international collaboration to overcome the health challenges of the pandemic.
The international partners reiterated their readiness to further support the OIC General Secretariat’s health agenda by carrying out joint programmes and activities.
