$100m fund to fight infectious diseases
$20M DONATED BY MOHAMMAD BIN ZAYED TO COMBAT RIVER BLINDNESS AND LYMPHATIC FILARIASIS IN AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST
Money will be used to end river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, two preventable ailments in Africa and the Middle East |
A new $100 million (Dh367 million) fund was launched in Abu Dhabi yesterday to end river blindness and lymphatic filariasis (LF), two preventable infectious diseases, in 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 (Dh73.46 million) to the Reaching the Last Mile fund, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also expected to grant up to $20 million (Dh73.46 million) towards it. The funds will be managed by a newly launched investment platform, the END Fund, which launched a call for the remaining amount to be raised.
The announcement was made at the Reaching the Last Mile conference, where more than 200 government officials, philanthropists, activists, medical professionals and social workers met to discuss the development and challenges of tackling infectious diseases.
Attending the conference, Mohammad Bin Zayed and Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and co-chair of the philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also presented awards to five individuals who made significant progress in the fight against guinea worms.
The Recognising Excellence Around Champions of Health (Reach) awards also recognised former US President Jimmy Carter for being a long-term advocate for action against guinea worm disease.
Bill Gates honoured
In turn, Mohammad Bin Zayed conferred the Order of Honour upon Gates for his tireless work to aid humankind.
“International cooperation and collective action is our way to address the health challenges that afflict humanity,” Mohammad Bin Zayed tweeted last night, welcoming delegates to the conference.
Dr Maha Barakat, adviser to the executive office of Abu Dhabi Government and board member of a global framework for coordinated action against malaria — the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, said 1.58 billion people around the world were still affected by neglected tropical diseases each year, including conditions like river blindness, LF and guinea worm disease.
“The world eradicated small pox in 1980, and this gives us the biggest hope against preventable diseases.
“Two other diseases have also seen a 99.9 per cent drop in global cases, and are now in the last mile: polio and guinea worm disease,” Dr Barakat said.
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 (Dh14.69 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.
“In fact, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed personally donated $205 million (Dh753 million) to offer polio vaccinations, and it is this kind of the effort and commitment that is needed to combat any infectious disease,” she added.
Today, only one of the three known strains of the virus remains, and experts have earmarked 2018 as a possible date of global eradication.
“Yet, failing to eradicate polio could lead to 200,000 new cases every year within a decade’s time,” Dr Barakat warned.
Shaikh Mohammad had also previously granted $30 million (Dh110 million) towards fighting malaria, which still infects 212 million people in 91 countries annually.
Priority concern for UAE
Wiping out guinea worm disease has also been a priority for the UAE, and the country’s founding father, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, provided $5.77 million (Dh21 million) in 1990 to support global efforts to fight it.
The disease is caused by parasitic worms that are still endemic to certain African countries, and 26 cases have been reported this year (2017) in Chad and Ethiopia.
“The disease, which is transmitted through the consumption of contaminated water, does appear to be in the last mile,” said Dr Dean Sienko, vice-president for health programmes at The Carter Centre.
“A few years ago, cases were still being reported in Mali, Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia. But none have been reported in South Sudan this year, and in Mali since 2016,” added Dr Sienko.
“To eradicate this disease, we need to encourage people to drink from safe sources while also working with governments to decontaminate water bodies,” he said.