United Arab Emirates (UAE) Health Minister, Abdul Rahman Bin Mohamed Al-Owais, has applauded the topics tackled by the sixth Conference of OIC Health Ministers, currently hosted by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah.
"The conference's theme of integrating health in all policies is important to all of us; so that policy makers should focus on health in all fields, whether economic, social or others. We need to support our brothers in all Muslim countries", said Al-Owais.
"Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH), OIC and WHO have exerted great efforts in this respect. We hope to see legitimacy restored in countries which have lost it, and that we can build an integrated body for the Islamic world," he added.
Concerning the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Islamic world countries’ capabilities to produce drugs, he said, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has enormous capabilities in pharmaceutical industries. Also, the GCC States have excellent capabilities in this field. However, the industries need ongoing follow-up and greater investments, and we in the GCC States have made great strides in this field, as well as OIC countries. I hope that the OIC countries will overcome all obstacles facing them by Allah's Grace and then the support of our leaders who are mindful of the importance of health and pharmaceutical awareness. Likewise, what have been achieved in the KSA, UAE and other Gulf States, as well as other Muslim countries, and the great strides they made in the field of drug production are of great significance, in addition to Indonesia's wonderful vaccines initiative,"
It is noteworthy that participants in the 6th conference of the OIC Health Ministers include delegations headed by Health Ministries from the OIC member states and regional and international observer organizations. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations. It endeavors to safeguard and protect the vital interests of the Muslim world, boost Islamic solidarity among member countries and support cooperation between them in political, economic, social, cultural and scientific fields.