Sami Abdul Raouf (Dubai)
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, attaches great importance to contributing to confronting health challenges worldwide and achieving the goals of the global strategy to eradicate polio at the international level.
The directives and vision of His Highness the President of the State, over the past years, formed the basis from which the UAE’s initiatives, financial contributions, actions, and field projects were launched, which aimed to strengthen health and treatment programs, implement vaccination campaigns, and provide vaccines around the world.
His Highness the President supports the efforts of the global polio eradication programme, through vaccination campaigns in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
State celebration
Today, the country’s health authorities are organizing a group of activities and events on the occasion of World Polio Day, which falls on the twenty-fourth of October of each year. The activities, which extend over several days, include scientific lectures to present the latest global developments and recommendations about the national polio eradication program.
Health authorities broadcast awareness messages to the public on websites and social media platforms, in addition to lectures at the hospital level.
The health authorities aim to disseminate more information about the importance of vaccination against polio, enhance demand for vaccination services, raise community immunity, and vaccinate our children against infectious diseases, to encourage families to visit primary health care centers in order to preserve their health and to avoid transmitted diseases through educational activities and campaigns organized by all regions. Medical.
The World Health Organization celebrates World Polio Day in 2023, which is one of the oldest diseases that has afflicted humans since ancient times, as the first knowledge of this disease was in 1350 BC by the ancient Egyptians, and since that date humanity has suffered from the effects of this disease on health. Children and society by causing disability and death to thousands of children.
International recognition
The World Health Organization has appreciated the initiatives of the UAE and the efforts of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, in supporting and strengthening efforts to eradicate polio, providing humanitarian and development aid, supporting the health sector, and strengthening its preventive programs in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The organization previously expressed its appreciation for the commitment of the UAE, through the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, to promote and support the eradication of polio in Pakistan, within the framework of the UAE Program to Assist Pakistan, stressing that the common goal It is to achieve “health for all by all”, and it is a call for solidarity and action among all partners involved.
«Emirates Campaign»
Through efforts on the ground in Pakistan and its commitment to the Global Polio Initiative and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the UAE is working to eradicate polio from every town, village and country around the world.
The “Emirates Polio Vaccination Campaign in Pakistan” announced last February that it had completed about 667.5 million doses of vaccination against polio during the period from 2014 until the end of 2022, targeting 17 million children in Pakistan.
Transmission of the endemic wild polio virus was limited to only two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The year 2023 is the target year to stop the transmission of all remaining polio viruses globally, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s strategy 2022 2026: Keeping the Promise.
“The last mile”
In 2017, His Highness the President launched the Last Mile Fund, a 10-year, $100 million initiative; With the aim of paving the way for the end of two neglected and devastating tropical diseases: river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
During 2018, the Fund also provided more than 13.5 million treatments for both diseases, and trained about 76,000 health care workers to help expand the scope and areas of treatment.
Advanced model
The UAE is keen to keep pace with the latest global developments and its commitment to all recommendations of the World Health Organization, within the framework of improving the results of the strategic indicator for the rate of coverage of children with immunizations, through the continuous development of all medical and technical teams in order to enable them to keep pace with everything new in the field of immunization and prevention.
Health authorities continue to review the latest developments in the global strategy to eradicate the virus, and how to activate the national response plan, noting that the last case of polio in the country was in 1992, and while continuing to implement all necessary measures to eliminate the disease, it was officially certified in 2007 that the country was free of infection. From polio.
The UAE is considered an advanced regional and global model in the field of polio eradication and control, and has achieved outstanding results in dealing with this disease, as prevention measures and dealing with suspected cases of infection are implemented in a precise scientific manner in accordance with the best international practices.
Global partnership
The UAE has given the utmost importance to eradicating polio around the world, and has announced its continued endeavor, with the support of His Highness the President, may God protect him, to build effective regional and international partnerships to confront the various humanitarian challenges facing humanity, most notably ridding humanity of polio.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan established the REACH Institute in Abu Dhabi, through a partnership between His Highness and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The institute’s efforts focus on eradicating five diseases, as the institute’s tasks focus on main areas, which are: enhancing support provided to eradication issues. Infectious diseases worldwide, and advancing disease elimination strategies.
2023-10-23 21:20:45
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