Islamic countries emphasize the urgency of stopping polio

The Astana Declaration calls for funding and political commitment

Polio panel discussion at the Islamic Conference of Ministers. WHO/A. Balachandran — Polio panel discussion at the Islamic Conference of Ministers.
WHO/A. Balachandran

Astana – Ministers of health from around the Islamic world adopted a declaration this week noting that they “emphasize the urgency of stopping all wild poliovirus transmission by the end of 2012 and thereby call for sustained high-level political commitment and oversight of vaccination campaigns and urge OIC countries, the G8, the G20 members to consider providing urgent funding required by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.”

At the Third Islamic Conference of Health Ministers held in Astana, Kazakhstan from 29th September to 1st October, 2011, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the 57 Member States re-affirmed their commitment to work closely with the GPEI to complete polio eradication. The OIC organized a specific Polio Panel Discussion during the Plenary to provide an update on the status of global polio eradication efforts, and respond to queries from OIC member states. The Conference witnessed strong statements of support and appeals by member states for additional technical and financial resources to assist polio-affected countries. At the end of the Conference, Ministers adopted the text of the “Astana Declaration.”