WHO praises Saudi TB prevention program

The World Health Organization (WHO) praised the Kingdom's tuberculosis (TB) prevention program on Thursday at a major health conference in Jakarta and urged other countries to follow its example.
Lucia Jet, a senior WHO official, said: “The Kingdom has implemented a successful program to combat tuberculosis and we call on other countries to benefit from its experience."
Jet made the comments while addressing representatives from 57 countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the Fourth Session of the Islamic Conference of Health Ministers (ICHM) in Jakarta, which started Wednesday.
She said the Kingdom's Ministry of Health has deployed mobile teams to treat TB patients at their homes. “The Kingdom has also taken a decision to eradicate TB by 2040, which is a clear indication of its commitment to the cause.”
TB treatment has saved the lives of more than 22 million people, according to the WHO's Global Tuberculosis Report 2013 published Wednesday. The new data confirmed that the world is on track to meet the 2015 UN Millennium Development Goals of reversing TB incidence, with a 50 percent reduction in mortality rates by 2015.
The ICHM adopted the OIC Strategic Health Program of Action and implementation plan for 2013 to 2022 (OIC-SHPA) to address the health-related challenges of member states.
The conference delegates discussed ways to strengthen cooperation among the OIC member countries with regard to health infrastructure, education, training, capacity building, disease surveillance, prevention and control, and self-reliance in terms of drugs and vaccine production.
The OIC-SHPA identified six areas for cooperation and joint action including strengthening health systems; disease prevention and control; maternal care; newborn and child health and nutrition; medicine, vaccine and medical technologies; emergency health response and interventions; and information, education, research and advocacy.
Delegates also discussed various other health issues including lifestyle diseases and tobacco use in OIC member states.