The UAE is committed to fighting polio

International efforts to eradicate disease must not end until we have a polio-free world

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed’s pledge to give Dh110 million to support global anti-polio efforts shows the country’s determination to rid the world of the deadly disease and its commitment to humanitarian assistance as a main pillar in its foreign policy. As The National reported, the UAE made the pledge on Monday at the Rotary Convention in Atlanta, as part of 31 donors contributing $1.2 billion (Dh4.77bn). The initiative is part of the Government’s pledge in 2013 to provide Dh440m to support global efforts towards eradicating polio by 2018, with a special focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The country has also embraced anti-polio cooperation on other occasions, when Sheikh Mohammed and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a strategic partnership in 2011, through which the two parties would donate equal shares of a sum of $100 million for the purchase and delivery of vital vaccines for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This partnership provided more than 85 million oral doses of vaccine for children.

The global campaign against polio, which the UAE is part of, has made remarkable progress in eradicating the disease from most of the world. The number of polio cases have decreased by more than 99 per cent, from 1,000 per day in 1988 to about 5 per day in 2016, and more than 16 million children have been saved from paralysis as a result, according to the World Health Organisation.

But this fight must continue because as long as a single child remains infected, we will continue to face the threat of outbreaks and uncertainties and, thus, children in all countries will be at risk of contracting polio. Currently, the disease only persists among the world’s poorest and most marginalised communities and the world shares the responsibility of combating it.

There are many biological, socio-political and economic complexities in the process of polio eradication, but the 2018 target for a polio-free world can only be met with greater understanding and cooperation between nations and individuals. The UAE shows, once again, that it’s always ready to take up the challenge.