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Prof. Dr. Liaquat Ali

Pothikrit Institute of Health Studies (PIHS), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Date: 31 May 2023
Time: 1600 – 1700 Hrs Pakistan Standard Time

Summary of talk:

Realizing the central role of health in overall human development, socioeconomic progress and poverty alleviation, the Organization of Islamic Islamic Countries (OIC) has identified health domain as one of the important areas for joint Islamic action. The OIC Health Vision is in line with the health related goals of SDG planned to be implemented through Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. Although considerable progress has been made, most of the OIC countries are facing difficult challenges to realize the Vision. Particularly the developing member states in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and war or conflict affected regions are suffering from inadequate health care in terms of availability and accessibility as well as affordability and quality. In many of them, health care systems are seriously suffering from various challenges related to adequate financial resources and infrastructure, workforce and appropriate national health policies and regulations. The unsatisfactory performance in the health sector is evident in all the six thematic areas of cooperation identified in the OIC Strategic Health Programme of Action (OIC-SHPA) 2014-2023, namely: Health System Strengthening; Disease Prevention and Control; Maternal, New-born and Child Health and Nutrition; Medicines, Vaccines and Medical Technologies; Emergency Health Response and Interventions; and Information, Research, Education and Advocacy. Apart from the rapidly rising burden of specific diseases or groups of diseases (like noncommunicable diseases or NCDs), an alarming message emerges from the analysis on the underlying common risk factors related to lifestyle like unhealthy transition in dietary practices, inadequate physical activity and harmful habits.  On average, the prevalence of insufficient physical activity in OIC countries is the highest (27.8 per cent) among all country groups. In consequence to inadequate physical activity and unhealthy diet, prevalence of obesity (a major contributor to a large number of NCDs) increased from 15.2 per cent in 2010 to 17 per cent in 2014 in OIC countries. In particular, high-income OIC countries suffer more from obesity.  Average per capita alcohol consumption in OIC countries increased from 1.9 litres in 2003 to 2.1 in 2013. An upward trend in the use of tobacco has also been observed with average tobacco smoking rate in OIC countries increasing from 18.3 per cent in 2006 to 19.8 per cent in 2015. This ‘off-track’ development is not only related to insufficient resources, but due to wrongly adopted health systems (often driven by external forces and market dynamics) are also responsible for such regressive movement in many cases. A 2019 study, using a Bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis and Truncated regression approach, has shown that cost efficiency (CE), technical efficiency (TE) and allocative efficiency (AE) of health care system of OIC member countries on average are 0.52, 0.72, and 0.70, respectively. It indicates that OIC countries are not good at selecting cost efficient input mix. 

Under the above context the OIC needs to recognize ‘Health’ as a high priority sector with its transformation from a ‘medical’ issue (as perceived by many member states) to a ‘development’ issue. Some of the ground works have already been done, those are now required to be implemented (some on emergency basis). The OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action (TYPOA) adopted by the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah in 2005 places special emphasis on mother and child health care and fighting diseases and pandemics. The TYPOA Recommendations include the following: i) Mandate the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to coordinate with the OIC General Secretariat in order to make the necessary contacts with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other relevant institutions to draw up a programme for combating diseases and epidemics, to be financed through the special fund that will be created within the IDB; and ii) Strengthen laws aimed at preserving the rights of children, enjoying the highest possible health levels, taking effective measures in order to eradicate poliomyelitis and protect them from all forms of violence and exploitation. Subsequent Islamic Conferences of Health Ministers (ICHMs), Islamic Summit Conferences and sessions of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) have adopted several decisions in the domain of health that cover issues such as preventing and combating diseases, improving mother and child health, achieving self-reliance in vaccine production and supply, establishing a Health Implementation Unit, strengthening health cooperation among OIC member countries and promoting health equity in the Islamic Ummah. In alignment with the first recommendation (triggered by the COVID-19 ppandemic), an agreement has been signed between WHO and IsDB on 21 November 2022 for promoting strategic collaboration to help their common Member States build better health systems, respond to emergencies and more. The OIC can be a major Partner of WHO in realizing the Organization’s evolving relationship with health-related personal beliefs, ‘faith-based organizations’ (FBOs), religious leaders and religious communities (‘religious actors’). This will be immensely useful in achieving the increasing emphasis of WHO on the ‘spiritual dimension’ of health which is fully in line with the teaching of Islam for the overall wellbeing of human being and nature.

Target Audience: This webinar is open to science policy makers, academicians, scientists and general public from all the member OIC states.

Profile of Speaker:

Prof Liaquat Ali is a biomedical scientist, educationist, and sociocultural activist with national and international reputation. With graduation in Medicine and MPhil in Medical Biochemistry from Dhaka University and PhD in Medical Cell Biology from Uppsala University (Sweden) he served various public and private institutions including IPGMR, BIRDEM and the Bangladesh University of Health Sciences or BUHS where he was the Founding Vice-Chancellor. In collaboration with a fairly large number of institutions in home and abroad he has supervised and co-supervised more than 300 MS, MPhil, MD and PhD students in various health and biomedical disciplines who are now working all over the world. About one-fifth of these students are from regional and international origin. With >280 papers/articles in peer-reviewed journals/books and nearly150 invited lectures in 39 countries of the world Prof Ali is one of the most cited biomedical scientists in the region. He has made significant contributions in the etiopathogenesis of diabetes mellitus among Bangalee population, methodology of antidiabetic plant medicine research, nutritional evaluation of local food materials, epidemiology of cardiometabolic diseases, and health system research in general. Along with his academic and scientific works, he has always participated actively in health related initiatives from the public as well as private sectors. He has been serving the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and its Directorates & Agencies as an Expert Member in a number of Committees. He is one of the 8 Public Health Advisors as well as the Convener/Member of several Committees of the Government to fight the COVID-19 Pandemic.

For his contribution in education, science and healthcare Prof Ali has been awarded with Fellowships/ Memberships/Honors from various professional organizations including Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Indian Public Health Association, Islamic World Academy of Sciences and Indian Association for the Study of Asian Traditional Medicine.

In addition to his contribution in his professional fields Prof Ali is also known as a sociocultural and literary activist in Bangladesh. He is the Founding Chair of Pothikrit Foundation which operates a popular intellectually oriented cultural Center (Sangskriti Bikash Kendra or SBK) in Dhaka. He is also a Visiting Faculty in the Department of Theater & Performance Studies of Dhaka University teaching the ‘Philosophy and Psychology of Theater’ Course. He has particular interest in history & philosophy of sciences, and among his writings in this field the book ‘Geometry and Philosophy’, published by Bangla Academy is widely acclaimed by the readers.

Poster of webinar:  Attached

Link for registration and E- certificate:https://forms.gle/JoXHmignj75RMvgo6

Zoom link will be shared with registered and selected participant.

Participants who attend full lecture will be given E- certificates.

Address: COMSTECH Secretariat, 33-Constitution Avenue, G-5/2, Islamabad 
Phone No. : 92 51 9220681-3
Email: Khazima@comstech.org ; maham.yamin@comstech.org

Flyer attached

The Ministerial Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) of the Organization of Islamic Organization (OIC) in collaboration with the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), and Ministry of Health and Population of the Arab Republic of Egypt, will organize a Training Course on “Fundamentals of Integrated Management on Health Emergencies and Crises” on 23-25 May 2023 through an online video conferencing platform.

The training course will be provided by competent experts from the Ministry of Health and Population of the Arab Republic of Egypt for the benefit of the Ministries of Health and relevant national institutions in the OIC Member Countries.

The main objective of the training course is to provide insights into the vital role of effective human resources management during health emergencies and crises, as well as the significance of efficient coordination and cooperation mechanisms among the relevant entities in the face of emergencies and crises. Additionally, the activity will highlight good practices in managing health emergencies and crises to assist OIC Member Countries in addressing challenges in this crucial domain within the framework of the STI Agenda 2026.

Register at: https://erp.sesric.org/events/Health-Emergencies/Apply

Date: 23-25 May 2023

For more information, please contact;

Dr. Abdur Rashid

Consultant (Health initiatives)

Email: rashid.consultant@comstech.org

WhatsApp: 0092-3215255442

Aiman Malik

Programme Officer

Email: aiman@comstech.org

Flyer: Click Here

Date: Thursday, 27^th April 2023 (Hybrid event)
Time: 1100 hours (Pakistan Standard Time)

A high level delegation of Chinese scientists and Industrialists will be visiting COMSTECH secretariat to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to promote cooperation for research and development in the fields of natural products, biotechnology, molecular and cell biology and traditional medicine through institutional and industrial linkages. The MoU will help strengthen academic and research initiatives between the People’s Republic of China and the OIC member states.

This signing ceremony shall be accompanied by series of key talks on the subject by scientists, and representatives of pharmaceutical industries in China. 

Who Should Attend?

Early stage researchers, relevant personnel from the research Laboratories and industries.

Travel & Local Hospitality:

No TA/DA applicable for this event

Event Program: link

Registration link: https://forms.gle/QETKDZME1EssXKMN8

Jointly Organized by COMSTECH and
The Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC) in collaboration with Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Bangladesh.
Venue: Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Bangladesh
Date:25-29 September, 2023

Introduction

In view of the diversity of several products, including processed food and other items of daily use in the present day, authentication and confirmation of their Halal nature is a growing challenge globally. Beside the environmental contaminants, both biological and chemical, addition of non-halal ingredients, which is prohibited for Muslims, are a matter of concern.  In recent years, awareness about Halal food and products has increased due to the cross contamination of several industrial products in our daily life. However, with increasing globalization, many Islamic countries import these products (or ingredients) from places which do not observe the Islamic religious laws. It is therefore, imperative for the Muslim countries to establish Halal testing laboratories which will ensure the ‘Halal’ status of the consumer products.

COMSTECH, SMIIC and other OIC institutions/organizations have been mandated by the Abu Dhabi Declaration (Second OIC Summit on Science & Technology, June 2021) to develop the capacity of Least Developed Countries of the OIC relevant to Halal (Clause # 32).

Course Objectives

The objective of this training courses is to encourage the harmonization of Halal Standards used in the OIC Countries and internationally by aiding in the adoption and use of the OIC/SMIIC Halal Standards. The training course is designed to train the participants from regarding the procedures for adoption, implementation and use of the OIC/SMIIC Halal Food Standards, mainly:

1. OIC/SMIIC 1:2019 – General Requirements for Halal Food
2. Auditing of Testing Labs in line with OIC/SMIIC 35 – Conformity Assessment – General Requirements for the Competence of Laboratories Performing Halal Testing.
3. the Testing Procedures standards such as Test Method for detection of porcine in Food Products (meat, processed food and gelatin) which are being chosen at SMIIC TC1 Technical Committee for Halal food issues.

The aim is to transfer knowledge and skills, and to develop the human capital, while bridging the knowledge gap and enlightening the compliance requirements set forth by the regulatory bodies in the OIC Countries.

Practical session: The first 3 days will consist of lectures which will can also be attended via zoom. This will be followed by a practical session of 2 days which will be conducted for a limited number of selected participants to transfer hands-on knowledge in halal laboratory testing methods. 

In regards to the practical training program, participants should fulfill the following criteria:

• Chemists, Researchers and Test Specialists high level, no beginners
• At least 3 years of practical experience in Real-Time PCR
• Able to converse and write in the English language
• Hold a permanent position at their institute
• Daily work with the measuring equipment
• Good knowledge in GLP.
• Age between 27 – 45 years old
• Had not previously participated in any course under SMIIC and COMSTECH
• Number of participants is limited and selection is based on the relevancy of the applicant’s job scope to the objective of the programme.

Who Should Attend?

The training course is designed to address the interest of scientists, research scholars, government officials, statutory policymakers, enforcement officers, and food safety auditors in OIC/SMIIC Halal Products Standards and Testing.

Travel & Local Hospitality:

COMSTECH will arrange local hospitality for all selected participants. Travel support may be provided to limited number of international participants.

Registration Process:

1. For physical participation register at the following link: https://forms.gle/JEPw7f5tnXtowyDb6
2. For virtual participation register at the following link: https://forms.gle/c7PrQH5S5LT6FfYGA
3. Read instructions in the application form carefully and submit a properly filled form along with your CV. Foreign participants must submit a scanned copy of passport.
4.  Selected candidates will be notified through email; hence, applicants are required to check their emails regularly.

Workshop Coordinators:

Muhammad Haris Akram
Program Manager
COMSTECH, Islamabad.
Email: haris@comstech.org
Phone: +92 51 9220681

Muhammad Haseeb Ahmad
Program Officer
COMSTECH, Islamabad.
Email: Haseeb.ahmad@comstech.org
Phone: +92 51 9220681

Date: 20th – 21 st March 2023

Venue: Islamic University in Uganda, Kampala, Uganda

Registration for virtual participation: https://forms.gle/aFphZXMTcaj6zo6m8

Arrière-plan

Près d’un tiers de la population musulmane mondiale réside en Afrique. L’un des principaux défis de développement dans la région africaine est le nombre limité de professionnels qualifiés et de main-d’œuvre. Ce problème peut être résolu en améliorant leur système d’enseignement supérieur. Le système d’enseignement supérieur a été confronté à de nombreux défis dans le monde entier pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 et chaque pays a adapté différents modes pour relever ces défis. Le mandat principal du COMSTECH est de renforcer la coopération entre les États membres de l’OCI dans le domaine de la S&T, de l’enseignement supérieur et de la santé. Le COMSTECH a lancé un programme majeur intitulé COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence (CCoE) dans le but de renforcer l’interaction S&T entre les États membres de l’OCI. Le CCoE se compose de plusieurs établissements d’enseignement supérieur de différents États membres de l’OCI. Conscient de l’importance du renforcement des capacités et du soutien au système d’enseignement supérieur dans la région africaine, COMSTECH lance une nouvelle initiative intitulée « Alliance des universités islamiques d’Afrique – AIUA ».

Objectif

L’objectif principal du programme AIUA est de renforcer la coopération entre les établissements d’enseignement supérieur d’Afrique et les établissements membres du CCoE. Le COMSTECH identifiera les besoins et les domaines d’intérêt dans lesquels les institutions membres de l’AIUA ont besoin de l’aide des institutions membres du CCoE. COMSTECH agira en tant que facilitateur pour créer un lien entre les deux réseaux et les responsabiliser dans le développement de leur système d’enseignement supérieur par le biais des programmes COMSTECH existants et d’autres activités de collaboration. Cette initiative contribuera à construire un écosystème de collaboration et permettra une croissance économique basée sur la connaissance dans les États membres de l’OCI, en particulier dans la région africaine. L’alliance ouvrira des voies pour partager des idées, des compétences, de l’expertise et des meilleures pratiques afin de mettre en commun les ressources pour un soutien mutuel et des avantages pour chaque institution.

Modes de mise en œuvre :

Dans la première phase d’initiation de cette Alliance, il est décidé de :

1. Invitez environ vingt (20) vice-chanceliers / recteurs de diverses universités des régions à majorité musulmane d’Afrique au Secrétariat du COMSTECH, Islamabad, Pakistan.
2. Les dignitaires en visite signeront un protocole d’accord (MoU) au nom de leur université / institution avec COMSTECH pour rejoindre l’AIUA en tant que membres.
3. Ils rencontreront les VC/recteurs des institutions membres du CCoE et discuteront de questions liées au renforcement des capacités des universités africaines dans les domaines de la science et de la technologie.
4. Les officiels en visite participeront au « Symposium international sur les défis post-COVID dans l’enseignement supérieur » qui se tiendra le 8 décembre 2022 (jeudi) au Secrétariat du COMSTECH, Islamabad, Pakistan.
5. Les dignitaires participeront au Forum des recteurs qui se tiendra le 10 décembre 2022 (jeudi) au Secrétariat du COMSTECH, à Islamabad, au Pakistan, organisé conjointement par le COMSTECH et l’Association des universités du secteur privé du Pakistan (APSUP). Le forum fournira une plate-forme aux recteurs pour rencontrer les chefs des principales universités du Pakistan (membres du CCoE) et échanger des idées concernant la mise en œuvre et l’efficacité de cette coentreprise, ainsi que pour collaborer avec eux dans les domaines où le une aide est nécessaire.
6. Les représentants des membres de l’AIUA visiteront plusieurs établissements d’enseignement supérieur du Pakistan (membre du consortium d’excellence COMSTECH), situés dans les villes d’Islamabad, de Sargodha et de Lahore, pour avoir un meilleur aperçu du système d’enseignement supérieur du Pakistan.

Intervenants :

• VCs/recteurs d’universités/institutions d’Afrique.
  • VCs/recteurs des universités/institutions membres du CCoE.
  • Représentants du COMSTECH et de l’APSUP
  • Excellences des États membres de l’OCI.

Événements organisés dans le cadre du programme AIUA à ce jour :

Institutions partenaires du programme AIUA : Cliquez ici

Coordonnateur du programme
Muhammad Haris Akram
Programme Manager, COMSTECH
Tel: +92-51-9220681-3 Email: haris@comstech.org

12-14 March, 2023
Venue: University of Jordan

For Registration,

The registered/ nominated participants will get entry to scientific lectures, full sets of workshop manual, a copy of the workshop program, daily refreshments, and workshop lunches.

Participants form OIC should register using the application form at the following address: https://forms.gle/UbG5akgj1oF7nT9k7

Participants form Jordan should contact Prof. Dr. Firas Awwadi (f.awwadi@ju.edu.jo)

Deadline for registration 1^st of February 2023.

Registration fees*:
Jordanians 50 JD
Participants from OIC member country 150 JD
Participants from industrial sector 500 JD

*Registration fees includes: Attending the lectures, practical sessions, workshop bag, training material, coffee breaks and lunches.

*Limited funding to cover registration fees, accommodation and travel expenses is available for young participants nominated by their institutions before 31^st of November 2022.