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Uganda to host 2019 Federation of Islamic Medical Associations (FIMA) meeting

Aug 11, 2017

The Federation of Islamic Medical Associations consists of Islamic Medical Associations from

HEALTH

Uganda has been chosen to host the 36th Federation of Islamic Medical Associations (FIMA) council meeting in 2019. Information from the Ministry of Health shows that the meeting will be held between July 21 and 28, 2019.

This decision to have the meeting hosted by Uganda was taken during the 34th FIMA council meeting which took place in Istanbul, Turkey from July18 to 21.

The Federation of Islamic Medical Associations consists of Islamic Medical Associations from

41 countries and is expected to be expanded to include more countries, noted a statement from the health ministry.

FIMA was established in December 1981 by a group of Muslim Physicians and health professionals from Canada, US, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Jordan, South Africa, Sudan, Nigeria, and United Kingdom, who met in Orlando, Florida in USA.

In March 1999, FIMA was incorporated in the State of Illinois, USA, as non-profit organization. The objectives of FIMA are:

  1. to foster the unity and welfare of Muslim medical and health care professionals all over the world

  2. to promote Islamic medical activities including health services, education and research through cooperation and coordination among member organizations

  3. to promote understanding and application of Islamic principles in the field of medicine

  4. to mobilize professional and economic resources in order to provide medical care and relief to affected areas and communities

  5. to promote the exchange of medical information and technical data and expertise among member organizations.

The Islamic Medical Association of Uganda (IMAU), which was established in 1988, joined FIMA as a member in 1994.

The activities of FIMA are essentially the activities of member Islamic Medical Associations (IMAs).

FIMA has several projects spearheaded by member IMAs. They include:

  1. FIMA Save Vision which does a lot of cataract surgery and eye operations to save people's visions;

  2. FIMA relief which sends relief to people affected by disasters;

  3. FIMA Save Smile which does operations on people with a cleft lip and palate;

  4. FIMA Save Dignity which does operations on fistulas that occur after difficult deliveries of babies

  5. FIMA Addiction project which deals with addictions

  6. FIMA HIV/AIDS Resource Centre which deals with HIV/AIDS issues

  7. FIMA Islamic Biomedical ethics Resource Centre which deals with ethical issues in health care

  8. FIMA Youth and Student activities project which helps students develop their life skills

  9. FIMA Islamic Hospital Consortium which deals with Islamic hospitals issues

  10. FIMA Consortium of Islamic Medical Colleges which deals with training of health professionals.

According to a press release, during the FIMA council meeting in Turkey, Prof. Ihsan Karaman, the Rector of Medeniyet University in Turkey was elected as the new President of FIMA.

Karaman is also the President of the International Federation of Green Crescent Societies (IFGCS). The Uganda Green Crescent Society is a member of IFGCS and it was launched on February 24, 2017 at a function presided over by health state minister for general duties Sarah Opendi who represented President Yoweri Museveni. Prof. Karaman attended the launch.

The FIMA HIV/AIDS Resource Centre is spearheaded by the Islamic Medical Association of Uganda. It was agreed in the meeting in Turkey that the 4th International Muslim Leaders

Consultation on HIV/AIDS will be held immediately after the FIMA Council meeting of July 2019 in Uganda.

The theme of the consultation will be "Inter-religious Cooperation to address current HIV/AIDS and Addiction issues".

The goal of the consultation is to articulate a consensus position on strategies and modalities for implementation of inter-religious cooperation to address current HIV/AIDS and addiction issues.

The purpose of the consultation is to bring religious leaders, NGO leaders, government leaders and leaders in academia and science together as a "think tank" to share experiences and discuss issues and the way forward regarding inter-religious cooperation to address HIV/AIDS and addictions.

The first objective of the consultation is to articulate, analyze and reach a consensus position on the concept of inter-religious cooperation and how it can be transformed from theory to practice in addressing current HIV/AIDS and addiction issues.

The second objective is to share experiences, best practices and challenges in the use of religiosity to address current HIV/AIDS and addiction issues and also share experiences regarding inter-religious cooperation to increase the impact of work on these issues.

The third objective is to develop basic strategic and action plans to address current HIV/AIDS and addiction issues using inter-religious cooperation to reach communities and families more effectively.

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