JEDDAH: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will on Thursday hold an emergency video conference meeting of its steering ministerial committee on health to combat coronavirus. The meeting will be held in coordination with the UAE, chair of the Seventh Islamic Health Ministers Conference. The meeting comes amid the unprecedented challenges facing member states in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, said OIC Secretary-General Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen. Committee members will discuss member states’ efforts to face these challenges, he added. The purpose of the meeting is to share and update information on the virus, consult on the pandemic, and develop strategies to slow down and contain its spread in member states, he said. The following countries are members of the steering committee: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Maldives, Pakistan, Mauritania, Chad, Turkey, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sudan. Earlier, Al-Othaimeen urged member states’ governments, research institutions and Muslim scholars to coordinate in the effort to find a vaccine for COVID-19. He said the Islamic world should not stand idle while other countries around the world seek to find a treatment for this global crisis. He stressed his full confidence in the innovation, production capacities and human cadres of the Islamic world.