The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has condemned the killing of health workers engaged with the polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan.
He observed that such attacks deprive children, especially those belonging to the most vulnerable sections of the society, of their fundamental right to a healthy life free of the crippling disease.
The OIC, which has close cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in the global polio eradication campaign, fully supports the efforts of the government of Pakistan to eradicate polio and its commitment to achieve polio-free status. The Secretary General hopes that the attacks will not affect the national polio eradication campaign. Recalling the 2009 statement from the Islamic Fiqh Academy in favour of polio vaccination, the Secretary General reminded that preserving the wellbeing and physical health of the children is a duty of every parent and society as prescribed by Islam. He therefore appealed to the religious scholars and leaders to support the polio eradication campaign and encourage the people to respond positively to it.
