UAE to continue its initiatives to create disease-free world: Minister

Abdulrahman Bin Mohamed Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention and Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, asserted that the UAE will continue its multilateral initiatives to create a world free from disease.

He made this statement during the opening of the Global Health Forum, titled, “Reaching the Last Mile: Mobilising Together to Eliminate Infectious Diseases,” which was held today in Abu Dhabi, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

The Forum saw the participation of over 200 prominent igures, including government oficials, leaders of relief organisations, international health experts and leaders of the international health sector, who exchanged their points of view and the best international practices to prepare effective plans to locate and eradicate major diseases.

The Forum also showcased the considerable efforts of workers in general health to combat diseases that threaten lives in affected countries while supporting international initiatives to ight infectious diseases, through building new partnerships between the public and private sectors.

Al Owais stated that the UAE’S exceptional location as a link between the East and West has strengthened its mission to offer humanitarian assistance to various parts of the world, as well as its ongoing multilateral initiatives to create a world free from disease while afirming the necessity of investing in such international efforts.

He added that the UAE’S role, in co-operation with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carter Centre and the World Health Organisation, has the strategic goal of eliminating diseases that threaten humanity and saving people from their cycle of danger.

Owais pointed out that the eradication of smallpox and cholera was not expected in the 1970s. “We today can say that guinea worm disease and polio will face the same fate and will be completely eradicated,” he added.