Tuesday 3 January 2023 – 10:10
ABU DHABI, January 3rd / WAM / His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi Emirate, witnessed the announcement of ‘Reaching the Last Mile’ and ‘Malaria No More’ initiative organization expanding its “Predicting a Healthy Future” global health and climate initiative supported by a new three-year grant in the amount of five million US dollars.
The “Predicting a Healthy Future” initiative is a consortium of leading health and technology organizations working to reduce the impact of climate change on efforts to eradicate the disease.
The initiative, launched in 2020 with seed funding from the Reaching the Last Mile Initiative, is at the forefront of efforts to eliminate climate-related malaria. By developing health forecasting tools for the prevalence of these diseases and developing systematic plans and supportive policies to help governments implement them, the appropriate timeline for necessary health interventions for these diseases can be more effectively determined and targeted.
The initiative extension document was signed by Nassar Al Mubarak, representative of the Reaching the Last Mile initiative, Martin Edlund, CEO of Malaria No More, and Professor Dr. Eric Zeng, president of Mohamed bin Zayed University for Artificial Intelligence .
His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said supporting the ‘Predicting a Healthy Future’ initiative was an extension of the UAE’s continued efforts to fight preventable diseases pioneered by the founder, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, “may God rest his soul.” .
His Highness added, “Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him,” the UAE continues to work in cooperation with the most prominent partners and institutions specializing in the field of global health, by initiating meaningful partnerships that have a real and tangible impact in helping societies live healthy lives.
His Highness appreciated the achievements achieved thanks to the tireless efforts of the “Predicting a Healthy Future” initiative team and its partners, as well as the great support of the partners of the Mohamed bin Zayed University for Artificial Intelligence and the joint efforts to eradicate this disease and move towards a malaria-free world.
Malaria is one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases, prolonging the cycle of poverty in many societies and countries and destroying families.
According to the World Malaria Report 2021 published by the World Health Organization, cases of malaria have reached 247 million cases and more than 619,000 deaths, and every three out of four deaths involved children under the age of five.
While climate action is high on the agendas of governments around the world, the impact of climate change on the elimination of malaria and other climate-sensitive infectious diseases is an urgent matter as rising temperatures, the changing precipitation patterns and extreme weather disrupt health systems and transform the range of diseases transmitted and their seasons.
It is worth noting that one species of mosquito, called ‘Anopheles stephensi’, was able to expand its range to include populated areas and showed increased resistance to various types of insecticides.
A new initiative aimed at reducing the spread of this type of mosquito was launched last September by increasing monitoring processes, improving the exchange of necessary information and increasing the priority of research related to this type, according to the World Health Organization report. guy.
Efforts to eradicate malaria are making significant progress in achieving the desired results, as the World Malaria Report 2021 showed that 35 endemic countries recorded fewer than 1,000 new cases of malaria, while the number of malaria-related deaths decreased in five of the worst affected countries Investigators in the fight against malaria have concluded that using the right tools and directing funds can save many lives.
The ‘Predicting a Healthy Future’ initiative represents an innovative partnership with the organization ‘Malaria No More’ and a consortium of global healthcare and technology companies. Reaching the Last Mile affirmed its commitment to support Predicting a Healthy Future by pledging $5 million to support its efforts. presented during 2020 to evaluate the feasibility of malaria strategies.
The initiative also receives support from The Weather Company of IBM, Tableau Foundation and other members.
In January 2022, the “Predicting a Healthy Future” initiative launched the new Institute for Malaria and Climate Solutions (IMACS), a global institute dedicated to fighting malaria in the face of climate change and weather fluctuations.
The second phase of the Predicting a Healthy Future initiative includes the following main objectives:
Raise awareness and action at the intersections of climate change and global health by educating policymakers, thought leaders and donors about the growing impact of climate change on human health and promoting investment in proactive technology solutions, as well as reforming advocacy policies need to adopt resilient health systems.
Improving the effectiveness of disease early warning systems, including expanding the network of experts leading the development of advanced early warning systems and demonstrating the potential of artificial intelligence and new data sources in building prediction systems and increasingly accurate response for malaria and other climate-sensitive infectious diseases.
Support the implementation of forecasting and planning solutions by providing technical support to healthcare systems to design emerging solutions to meet local requirements, as well as integrate with existing systems and data sources and adopt the necessary policies and practices to maintain them, as well as verify impact on disease elimination efforts and cost-effectiveness.
In turn, Martin Edlund said that after the Arab Republic of Egypt, the world is transferring its efforts and hopes regarding efforts to tackle climate change to the UAE, which will host the Conference of the Parties to the Convention framework on climate change “COP28” next year, indicating that given the efforts made by the Emirates to eliminate On long-standing diseases is undoubtedly the ideal destination to highlight the complex effects of changing climate conditions on diseases such as malaria .
He added that with the renewed commitment of the founding members, led by the “Reaching the Last Mile” initiative, the “Predicting a Healthy Future” initiative hopes to pave the way for the adoption of comprehensive and innovative healthcare solutions that will provide protection for people and communities most vulnerable in the context of climate change.
Starting in December 2022, the new Institute for Malaria and Climate Solutions (IMACS) will launch operations in the Republic of Indonesia in collaboration with the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and partners in Indonesia from the public sector and academia.
Professor Eric Zing said: ‘Artificial intelligence has become a powerful tool for researchers and decision-makers thanks to the huge amounts of data that help develop insights and make good decisions, such as the data we have on malaria, its methods of transmission and the environmental and climatic effects on its spread, which help to develop strategies that will ensure we eradicate this disease”.
He added: “Through machine learning, we can analyze massive amounts of satellite and weather data in real time to predict potential climate change and direct relevant teams to analyze and identify imminent risks and take appropriate action against them. As a first research to the world’s AI university, we are honored to support Malaria No More and the Reaching the Last Mile Initiative, in their efforts to rid humanity of malaria once and for all.
– Mill-
Dina Omar
