The OIC General Secretariat and a US delegation met on Sunday, 26 July 2009 at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to discuss follow up action in conjunction with the initiative that the US President Barack Obama announced in his address to the Muslim World, in Cairo June 4, 2009, on a new global effort of the US with the OIC 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 meeting agreed to continue to cooperate and coordinate in particular areas such as advocacy, fund raising and technical support.
The Heads of States of the OIC 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 OIC Health Ministers held in 2007 and 2009 respectively, called on political and religious leaders in the OIC Member States to help create a movement of solidarity for polio eradication and further urged the OIC 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 OIC 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 OIC Member States.
The OIC Secretary General 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 OIC 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.
