From the very first days of the UAE, its leadership and people have always committed themselves to improving the lives of the less fortunate, those afflicted by tragedy and humanitarian crises, and those debilitated by illness and diseases. That is a philosophy that has endured, and as the UAE has flourished, so too has its commitment and undertakings to others.
Last week, the UAE launched a $100 million (Dh367.8 million) fund in Abu Dhabi to end river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, two preventable infectious diseases that occur across Africa and the Middle East.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, personally contributed $20 million to the Reaching the Last Mile fund, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also expected to grant up to $20 million towards it. The funds will be managed by END Fund, a private investment platform dedicated to ending five common neglected tropical diseases. Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed and Gates launched a call to action for the remaining $60 million to be raised.
The international campaign will go a long way in eradicating these two diseases, and it is but the latest in a long line of similar campaigns in which the UAE has played leading roles. The UAE has long supported polio eradication efforts, contributing more than 200 million doses of vaccine to remote areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan since 2014, and galvanising support to raise $4 billion at the 2013 Global Vaccine Summit. This year, only 14 cases have been reported among a single community living in Pakistan and Afghanistan, down from 350,000 infected people in 1988.
Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed personally donated $205 million to offer polio vaccinations, and it is this kind of the effort and commitment that is needed to combat any infectious disease. The results are evident — only one of the three known strains of the virus remains, and experts have earmarked 2018 as a possible date of global eradication. He had also previously granted $30 million towards fighting malaria. Wiping out guinea worm disease has also been a priority for the UAE, and the country’s founding father, late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who had provided $5.77 million in 1990 to support global efforts to fight the scourge.
This latest campaign follows a long line of successes and the UAE is both proud and privileged to be able to help humanity and bring meaningful change and improvement.
