Statement of the second meeting of Islamic Advisory Group on polio eradication
Cairo on 7 May 2015 | 19 Rajab 1436 AH
Praise be to Allah and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah and on his kin and companions!
The Islamic Advisory Group on Polio Eradication (IAG) reiterates its dedication to the principal goal of protecting the health, wellbeing and lives of children in the Muslim Ummah and mankind at large. In doing so it is guided and inspired by the teachings of Islam as well as the principles and instructions furthered and instilled by the Prophet Mohammad - peace and God’s blessings be upon him. Any actions and behaviours deliberately or unconsciously compromising the health and welfare of children are strictly forbidden in Islam and explicitly proscribed in the holy Koran that says, “They are losers who foolishly have slain their children without knowledge, and have forbidden that which Allah bestowed upon them, inventing a lie against Allah. They indeed have gone astray and are not guided” (Al-Anaam: 140).
The members of the IAG, meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on 6 May 2015, under the leadership of Al Azhar Al Sharif, the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB):
Having taken into consideration,
a. The IAG’s comprehensive recommendations and Islamic guidelines on child health, child protection and protection of health workers made in the “Jeddah Declaration,” on 27 February 2014, based on Islamic Sharia
b. The resolutions on child health and polio eradication adopted by the Islamic Summit and other OIC specialized conferences, including those of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) and Islamic conferences of Health Ministers;
c. Al Azhar Declaration on Solidarity with the Children of the Muslim Ummah on 6th of March 2013;
d. The fatwas and statements issued by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Iftaa institutions as well as senior scholars in the Muslim world based on the rulings of Islamic Fiqh on the safety and importance of childhood immunization;
e. Significant financial support provided by Islamic countries and Islamic financial institutions, including the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), to implement mass polio immunization activities in polio-endemic and other polio-affected countries;
Having noted the strong commitment and dedicated efforts of OIC Member States to eradicate polio and protect all children from preventable diseases;
Having noted that of 359 polio cases reported in nine countries in 2014, around 95 per cent of the children affected were living in OIC member states, including from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, Iraq and Syria; and in 2015, all of the 23 cases that have been reported are from just two OIC countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan;
Acknowledging the historic progress made in polio eradication efforts in Nigeria, Somalia, and that no polio cases have been reported for the past 9 months in all of Africa; that the polio outbreak in the Middle East has been stopped with no cases detected in Syria and Iraq for more than 12 months. Notwithstanding this tangible progress, possible regression to international spread of polio remains a threat;
Acknowledging with appreciation the specific actions undertaken as follow up to the recommendations of the IAG’s “Jeddah Declaration,” including the International Ulama Conference on Polio Eradication of 16 June 2014 held in Pakistan, and the Meeting on Somali Children’s Health: Polio and other Immunizations in Khartoum, Sudan, of 29 January 2015, and other actions to disseminate the “Jeddah Declaration” and its guiding principles;
Having noted the significant efforts of the National Islamic Advisory Group (NIAG) in Pakistan that based on rulings of Islamic Sharia works to raise awareness among religious leaders about childhood vaccinations and address their concerns, and conduct training of community influentials in the most high-risk areas as religious support persons;
Acknowledging the continued challenges faced by the polio eradication programme in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including: lack of access to children in a few areas, misconceptions about the purpose of vaccination campaigns and safety of vaccines, deadly attacks on health workers, need for greater community engagement and support from religious and traditional leaders in certain high-risk areas; and need for ensuring the neutrality of health interventions in areas of insecurity;
The IAG, having examined the current status of global polio eradication, including its religious, cultural, social and health aspects, in close collaboration with trusted Islamic medical experts, states the following:
- It strongly reaffirms the importance of Islamic solidarity in combating polio and its support for global polio eradication efforts; and acknowledges that it fully conforms to Islamic Sharia;
- It reaffirms and highlights the recommendations made by the IAG in the “Jeddah Declaration,” which provides the basis for the development of a work plan to address the concerns highlighted during the meeting;
- It expresses thanks to the government of Pakistan for their strong commitment and for the launching of the National Emergency Action Plan for polio eradication; calls on the National IAG to develop a country-specific strategy that is aligned with, and supports the full implementation of the emergency plan in the highest-risk communities and areas;
- It appeals to all OIC member states to consider providing additional political, technical, financial and religious support to the last few polio affected countries; it also appeals to all Islamic financial institutions, including the Islamic Development Bank and philanthropic organizations to continue their excellent initiatives to provide much needed funding for vaccination efforts to protect children in OIC member states;
- It endorses the IAG work plan for 2015-16 put forward by the Executive Committee and requests the Committee to closely monitor the implementation of this work plan through its monthly teleconferences and other periodic meetings, and seeks the support of the IAG when it would be beneficial;
- It fully endorses the initiative to work closely with Islamic academic institutions including Al-Azhar University, the International Islamic University in Pakistan, the Islamic University in Madinah Al Munawarah and the Islamic University of Imam Muhammad Bin Saud in Riyadh, to systematically engage students of these universities who are from polio-priority countries and provide training on “Islam and Child health,” and to encourage these students to raise awareness of their communities in their home countries on the importance of immunization activities, including for polio;
- It remains concerned about continued misinformation on polio and vaccinations, and it highlights the need to further disseminate information developed through the IAG more widely in all polio priority countries, in this regard it supports the establishment of the IAG website, and urges the development of additional communication efforts that can support the work of the NIAG and their networks of religious leaders. In this context, it urges mass media and opinion makers to make every possible contribution to improving public awareness, particularly among segments of society linked to roots of the problem, for the purpose of rectifying misperceptions and nurturing reasonable notions and behaviors towards polio vaccines and immunizations;
- It strongly condemns the attacks on health workers and accompanying security personnel;
- Given the existence of many other health issues in the Muslim world, the Group decides to consider the prospect of expanding its scope of work to possibly turn into the Islamic Health Advisory Group;
- 10. It expresses heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Al-Azhar Al S-Sharif for hosting this important meeting at its Conference Centre in Cairo and the Government of Egypt for its support.
Devastating Middle East polio outbreak on verge of being stopped, say experts
Polio experts cautiously optimistic, but warn that disease could make renewed comeback
27 January 2015 | BEIRUT -A 12-month emergency immunization response across the Middle East appears to have halted an outbreak of polio that began in Syria and Iraq, according to health experts meeting in Beirut.
The outbreak, which paralysed at least 38 children in Syria and Iraq and prompted fears of a major epidemic, triggered an unprecedented response that immunized more than 27 million children across 8 countries. The outbreak in Syria – which spread to Iraq in early 2014 -- occurred due to the introduction of poliovirus from Pakistan.
One year has now passed since the last confirmed case of the virus in Syria and nine months since the last in Iraq, in spite of the ongoing conflict and mass population displacement in the region. Experts say this remarkable achievement is the result of the enormous efforts and commitment shown by governments, health workers, and parents to ensure that their children receive the vaccine.
“In normal conditions we would say that the epidemic has stopped,” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “But given the ongoing conflict, UNICEF and its partners will spare no efforts to ensure that children continue to receive the protection they need against this terrible disease.”
Experts attending a regional Polio review meeting in Beirut January 26-27 warned that with violence still sweeping Syria and Iraq, there is a serious risk that some children are not being reached regularly by vaccination teams. They say that given the gaps in vaccine coverage and potentially in surveillance for new cases, further immunization campaigns are essential over the months ahead.
“This is no time to relax,” said Chris Maher, Manager for Polio Eradication and Emergency Support of the World Health Organization (WHO). “In spite of our success so far, we continue to work with governments and local authorities, United Nations organizations and local and international nongovernmental organizations to ensure that all children across the region are fully protected against polio, including those living in areas most affected by conflict.”
A response plan for the next six months was formulated at the Beirut meeting which was attended by expert teams from Ministries of Health from Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Gaza and the West Bank and Iran and polio experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Rotary International, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The plan will focus on strengthening the basic delivery of immunization services, and identifying children and communities who are not being reached due to conflict or population movement.
The outbreak response has brought together a wide range of local and international partners, including Rotary International. “Rotary members have been working with local health authorities across the Middle East to galvanize the outbreak response and will continue raising awareness, supporting advocacy campaigns, securing funds, and building support in the fight to end polio wherever it exists,“ the District PolioPlus Subcommittee Chair for Rotary, Michel Jazzar said.
While emergency plans are now being further intensified to ensure all children are reached with vaccine and surveillance for the disease is strengthened, WHO and UNICEF experts say the only way to definitively protect children across the Middle East is to stop transmission of the virus in the countries where poliovirus transmission remains endemic – Pakistan and Afghanistan.
For more information, please contact:
Note to editors:
Generous donor contributions from Austria, Chile, DFID, ECHO, Estonia, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Oman, Rotary International, United Arab Emirates, UAE Red Crescent Society and the Emergency Response Fund of UN OCHA have enabled the Middle East outbreak response to vaccinate more than 27 million children against polio across 8 countries in 56 supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) since the outbreak was confirmed.
At this review, the chiefs of the vaccination programmes of the eight countries noted that their ministers of health had been among those who had declared the outbreak a regional public health emergency days after cases were confirmed in October 2013, and that this declaration had enabled them to mount a swift and coordinated response. They applauded health workers from all the countries, working sometimes at great risk across political divides and conflict lines to protect the children of the region, and thanked international partners for their steady support. Given the situation in Syria and Iraq, frequent population movements across the region, low immunity in key areas and the continuing transmission of polio in Pakistan, they emphasized that the risk of another importation of the virus remained high and the consequences severe. Especially in areas of conflict where health service delivery has broken down, disease surveillance and vaccination activities which allowed the vigorous response must be continued, they advised.
Polio immunization drive targets 25 million children across the Middle East
Hopes rise that disease outbreak has been contained
Amman, 24 October 2014 - As the world marks World Polio Day, UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners across the Middle East are bolstering efforts to contain a polio outbreak triggered by the conflict in Syria and Iraq last year.
In the coming weeks, 25 million children under the age of five, across seven countries, (Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq) will be vaccinated against polio, amid rising hopes the outbreak in the region has been contained.
The current synchronised vaccination rounds are part of a crucial multi-country effort to eliminate polio in the Middle East, after 36 cases were confirmed in Syria in October 2013, and two further cases were confirmed in Iraq in April 2014.
“Tremendous progress has been achieved since polio made its way back into Syria last year. Through the huge effort of our partners to reach children in hard- to-access areas, in challenging conditions, there have been no new cases of polio reported in Syria or Iraq since April,” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “This effort must be sustained and we must remain vigilant so that all children can grow and thrive without the fear of polio.”
Ongoing activities include:
- In Syria: 2.9 million children targeted for immunization in October
- In Iraq: 5.8 million children targeted to be vaccinated in October
- In Lebanon: 550,000 children to be immunized in in October and November
- In Jordan: 1.1 million targeted to be vaccinated in October
- In Egypt: 15 million children targeted for immunization in October
- In Turkey: 300,000 children targeted to be vaccinated in October
In Syria and Iraq, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners are making a special effort to reach children who have been displaced by the ongoing violence, and who may have missed out on previous vaccination campaigns because of heavy fighting. An estimated 200,000 children will not be reached through the polio campaign in Syria because they live in hard-to-reach areas affected by to the ongoing conflict.
“While polio has been reduced by over 99 per cent since the global eradication effort started, the risk of further international spread across the region remains high, so we appeal to parents to give their full support to these campaigns, which will run through early 2015,” said Chris Maher, Manager of Polio Eradication and Emergency Response, WHO. “Closing the Middle East polio outbreak is a critical step toward improving the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children.”
GPEI is spearheaded by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Islamic Development Bank and a range of public and private sector donors. Since 1988, GPEI has reduced polio worldwide by over 99 percent.
For more information:
Simon Ingram, UNICEF, +962 6 550 2407,
Emma Sykes, WHO, +962 7 9141 8368,
