The 2nd Islamic Conference of Health Ministers (ICHM) held in Tehran, Islamic republic of Iran, on 1-4 March 2009 mandated the OIC Steering Committee for Health, in collaboration with member countries, to develop a draft OIC Strategic Health Program of Action (OIC-SHPA) to be submitted and adopted at the 3rd Session of the ICHM.
In its 3rd meeting, which was held at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah on 22-23 January 2011, the OIC Steering Committee for Health formulated Terms of Reference (ToR) for the preparation of the OIC- SHPA. The Committee further decided that the initial draft could be prepared by a group of consultants, to be hired by the General Secretariat, and submitted to the Steering Committee.
The 3rd Session of the ICHM, held in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan from 29 September to 01 October 2011, requested the Steering Committee to expedite the preparation and finalization of the OIC-SHPA. Following the decision of the 3rd ICHM, the OIC General Secretariat took necessary measures in collaboration with Chair of the Steering Committee and IDB to speed up the process and finalize the technical formalities as soon as possible. During the course of the time, several members of the Steering Committee expressed their opinions about the formalities of the preparation of the SHPA and emphasized that relevant OIC institutions must play a leading role in the preparation of this important document.
The 5th meeting of the OIC Steering Committee for Health, which was held at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah from 31 January to 01 February 2012, accepted the offer made by SESRIC to lead the preparation of the draft OIC-SHPA 2013-2022. The Committee directed SESRIC to coordinate with IDB in line with the approved ToR for the preparation of the document. In this regard the meeting also underlined the need for close collaboration with the OIC General Secretariat, the Steering Committee for Health and relevant international agencies and organizations.
To discuss the structure and outline of the OIC-SHPA 2013-2022 draft document, SESRIC organised a Brainstorming Workshop on 11-12 June 2012 in Ankara, Turkey. The workshop was attended by the members of the OIC Steering Committee for Health and health experts from some leading relevant international institutions and universities.
OIC-SHPA Draft
The present draft document of OIC-SHPA 2013-2022 is comprised of six sections. First three sections are mainly based on literature review and data based analytical research on the current situation of health in OIC member countries. These sections provide a base for understanding the recent performance of the OIC member countries in the domain of health. The last three sections are the most important part of the document. These sections provide insights into proposed thematic areas of cooperation; recommend special programmes of action under each thematic area and propose a mechanism for the implementation and monitoring of OIC-SHPA.
A brief description of each section is as follow:
OIC Strategic Health Programme of Action 2013-2022 (OIC-SHPA)
Section I: OIC Vision, Policy and Strategy in the Health Sector outlines the key features of OIC health vision and recommendations of OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action (TYPOA) regarding mother and child health care and fighting diseases and pandemics.
Section II: Health Situation in OIC Countries describes the current status of health in member countries by providing a detailed account of the efforts made by OIC member countries and institutions in the domain of health, progress towards achieving the targets of the MDGs related to health and social determinants of health.
Section III: Challenges, Obstacles and Problems discuses in length the challenges and major gaps, obstacles and problems facing the member countries in the domain of health.
Section IV: Thematic Areas of Cooperation presents six proposed thematic areas of cooperation in the domain of health: (1) Health System Strengthening; (2) Disease Prevention and Control; (3) Maternal New-born and Child Health and Nutrition; (4) Medicines, Vaccines and Medical Technologies; (5) Emergency Health Response and Interventions and (6) Information, Research, Education and Advocacy.
Section V: Programmes of Action proposes a set of programmes of action and activities under each thematic area which are to be undertaken collectively by the member countries in collaboration with relevant OIC institutions and international organizations both at national and intra-OIC cooperation level.
Section VI: Implementation Mechanism and Monitoring proposes a mechanism for the implementation and monitoring along with identification of some avenues for securing the financial resources for the OIC-SHPA.
