Tackling Cancer Burden in the OIC Member States Demands Immediate and Coordinated Action
03/08/2018- The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen has stressed that the rising number of cancer cases in the OIC Member States demands immediate and coordinated action to stem the spread of the disease. OIC Assistant Secretary General for Science and Technology Amb. Naeem Khan stressed the point on behalf of Al-Othaimeen, during the First Ladies session of the High Level Regional Seminar on Promoting Awareness Against Cancer in OIC African Member States, held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 2 August 2018.
“More than a half of the OIC Member States are low and medium income countries and the burden caused by cancer calls for dedicated resources, both financial, human resources and infrastructure, beyond that available from national health budgets,” said Al-Othaimeen.
“The OIC General Secretariat in collaboration with the IDB and IAEA have embarked on projects for the strengthening and establishment of cancer treatment facilities in several OIC Member States,” he added.
Dr. Al-Othaimeen notes that the High Level Regional Seminar on Promoting Awareness Against Cancer in OIC African Member States is a milestone in OIC’s efforts to support national, regional and international initiatives to address the issue of cancer.
In her address to the seminar, First Lady of Burkina Faso Madam Sika Kabore observed that OIC African member countries have a lot of challenges, but the seminar attended by the OIC African First Ladies reaffirm their determination to work together in the fight against cancer in their countries.
The seminar which was attended by the president of Burkina Faso H.E. Marc Roch Kabore, was addressed by experts from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), World Health Organisation (WHO), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Statistical, Economic and Social Research and training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) among others.
At the end of the seminar, 16 First Ladies from OIC African Member States signed the Ouagadougou Declaration which made several recommendations including: Invest resources in addressing the risk factors associated with cancer; Integrate cancer prevention into primary healthcare systems of OIC member states; Encourage the participation of civil society and community in fostering partnerships for dissemination of information about cancer; Strengthen implementation of screening programs for women with a focus on breast cancer and cervical cancer; Embrace the Tobacco Free OIC initiative; Develop population-based cancer registry and scale-up national cancer control programs; Improve access to appropriate technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer; and, For the OIC Secretariat to engage Member States, and collaborate with nongovernmental organizations, private sector entities, philanthropic foundations and academic institutions in order to develop partnerships to scale up cancer prevention and control, and to improve the quality of life of cancer patients.
Source: https://www.oic-oci.org/topic/?t_id=19884&t_ref=11423&lan=en