Sami Abdel Raouf (Dubai)
His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, Regional Director of the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean, confirmed that His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, has a long history and a brilliant record in supporting health issues worldwide, and His Highness has made outstanding contributions in this field. To provide health care around the world.
In exclusive statements to Al-Ittihad, he said: “His Highness’ cooperation with the World Health Organization represents a model that enables us to fulfill our commitments and support our programs in various ways, including working with many strong and innovative potential collaborating centers in the United Arab Emirates in the main priority areas.” He added, “We are confident that His Highness’ efforts and valuable initiatives will continue in the direction of providing more support and empowerment to countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region and beyond in order to achieve health equity, universal health coverage and sustainable development goals.”
Al-Mandhari described the efforts of the UAE and the initiatives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, as being “comprehensive and renewable”, and they include vital areas such as the manufacture of medicines, including vaccines, as well as the production of technology and digital health, as well as working on a global agenda for well-being and health located in The core of the UAE’s priorities.
He pointed out that one of the most prominent efforts supported by His Highness is the launch of global initiatives to eliminate diseases, strengthen health systems, and contribute to the provision of health care services in the most needy communities in the Eastern Mediterranean region and beyond.
He stressed that the initiatives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, had a positive impact in supporting efforts to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic inside and outside the Eastern Mediterranean region, embodying the spirit of solidarity, cooperation and joint action.
He said: “The initiatives and aspects of support sponsored and presented by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, cover a long list of important health issues, including communicable diseases, the eradication of polio, and paving the way for the elimination of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, as problems public health in countries where these diseases are endemic.
The “Reaching the Last Mile” program is one of the most important health initiatives launched in 2017, by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Department of Development, and this initiative continues for a decade, worth $100 million.
Regarding the beneficiaries of these initiatives, Al-Mandhari stated that the base of those targeted by the initiatives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, and his tireless efforts in promoting health and humanitarian work is expanding to include different age groups, multiple communities and many countries. He mentioned that while His Highness’s efforts in the field of polio eradication are aimed at protecting millions of children in the region and abroad from this crippling disease by providing vaccines and supporting countries where the disease is still endemic or vulnerable to the virus, His Highness’s contributions to combating communicable diseases – which represent a burden Health for all countries of the world – includes all age groups in different societies.
And he indicated that the efforts under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, include striving to end neglected tropical diseases that afflict hundreds of millions of people from different groups and countries of the world.
“At the same time, large numbers of healthcare professionals have benefited from medical supplies and supplies to enable medical staff to safely perform their professional duties in response to COVID-19,” he said.
“We highly value the role of the UAE and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed in the region and abroad,” he said.
We recall with appreciation and gratitude that the UAE established field hospitals in a number of countries, including Sudan, Guinea, the United Kingdom, and others, to face the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, and sent relief planes carrying tons of medical supplies to many countries, including Ukraine, Italy, Kazakhstan and Colombia.
He pointed to the provision of a number of field hospitals to African countries to support their health services, and the allocation of about $36.3 million for polio eradication and emergency response.
He touched on the vital role of the International City for Humanitarian Services in Dubai in strengthening the work of the World Health Organization in terms of urgent response to health emergencies.
He said: “The International Humanitarian City and the government of the United Arab Emirates have donated the cost of charter flights, estimated at more than $1,215,000, to support the rapid response of the World Health Organization to health emergencies for both COVID-19 and others, especially in response to the explosion of the Port of Beirut in Lebanon. ».
He explained that through the World Health Organization’s logistics center in Dubai, whose role has increased during the Covid pandemic, we were able to send more than 400 shipments of supplies to 116 countries in all six WHO regions from Venezuela to the Philippines.
He stated that during the acute phase of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 80% of all the personal protective equipment sent by the World Health Organization was provided through the logistics center, including 26 million masks, 9.5 million gloves and 2.5 million masks. Respirators, 1.1 million face shields, 1.2 million screening tests and 500,000 RT-PCR tests to support surveillance and virus detection activities.
He stressed that through the International Humanitarian City in Dubai and the logistics center, it was able to respond simultaneously to multiple health emergencies, including the explosion in Lebanon, and the outbreak of infectious diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, yellow fever, dengue fever and Ebola in different countries and regions.
He said, “The volume, value and number of shipments from the World Health Organization’s Logistics Center, the number of countries it reached and the regions supported in 2020 exceeded the outputs of the previous five years combined, and the International City for Health Services continues to play its active and active role.”
On the role of the UAE in combating neglected tropical diseases, Al-Mandhari replied: “The UAE has led diplomatic efforts to obtain official approval to designate a global day for neglected tropical diseases.”
He added: “In close cooperation with the World Health Organization, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, played a critical role in building partnerships and supporting the establishment of this World Day.” On May 27 last year, the delegates participating in the The Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly decided to designate January 30 as World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day.
Regarding the role of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, in the global fight against polio, the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean explained that the UAE has contributed more than $200 million to efforts to eradicate polio in Pakistan since In 2014, hundreds of millions of doses of vital polio vaccines reached children.
In 2019, the UAE hosted the Reaching the Last Mile Forum in Abu Dhabi, which brought together prominent global health leaders to address the central issues of communicable diseases and polio eradication.
Al-Mandhari said: “Thanks to the personal commitment of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, may God protect him, to global health, this important forum provided the opportunity for the World Health Organization and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to mobilize political and financial support from donors and leaders from around the world. the world to end polio.” He stressed that the UAE continues to support efforts to achieve the goal of polio eradication through its co-chairmanship with the State of Qatar of the new sub-committee at the regional level on polio eradication and disease outbreak, and hosting two important high-level dialogues at the United Nations in New York on gender and elimination. on polio. He said, “We are confident that the United Arab Emirates, and other regional and global donors, will continue their efforts until the global eradication of this disease is announced.”
$450 million to improve the health conditions of peoples
Over the past ten years, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has provided more than $450 million to improve the health conditions of people around the world, and to provide this assistance in the form of treatments, preventive care and training in communities that lack good health services, with A special focus is on getting to the last mile of disease eradication. The UAE is among the largest donors to support efforts to support the eradication of malaria, including the Results-Based Management Partnership to End Malaria, a global platform to coordinate action to rid the world of malaria, while the UAE also serves as a leader in the field of results-based management and contribute to new operational research and additional advocacy efforts to eliminate malaria from the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, where there has been a significant decrease in malaria cases and deaths over the past 15 years.
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