UAE efforts in fight against polio benefit 57m children in Pakistan
▶ Four-year vaccination campaign delivered more than 250m doses
The UAE helped to vaccinate more than 57 million Pakistani children against polio in the four years to 2018, official figures show.
The UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme supports efforts to eradicate the disease worldwide.
It was launched under the directive of President Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Between 2014 and 2017, the campaign administered 254.4 million doses of vaccines to 43 million children in Pakistan.
Coverage was extended to include a further 83 areas in four provinces of Pakistan, helping to reach another 13 million children in the next 12 months.
More than 96,000 workers, including medical staff, management and security teams, were involved in the campaign.
Millions of children have been saved from death and crippling disabilities thanks to global efforts to eradicate polio in the past 30 years.
Despite the success of health initiatives, the disease remains a threat in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, the only three countries yet to be rid of polio.
The global campaign to eradicate polio was launched in 1988 with international support. The disease is easily prevented by a simple vaccine first developed in 1955 and has been almost entirely eradicated in the West for more than half a century. Australia was declared polio free in 1972 and the UK by 1982. The UAE became polio free in 1992.
For a country to be declared polio free there must be no new case reported for two years.
The UAE’s fight against polio has included collaborations with philanthropist and business magnate, Bill Gates.
In October, it was revealed that Abu Dhabi could one day be home to a global research institute to tackle polio and other infectious diseases and backed by Mr Gates.
The UAE has been a partner of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation mission to eradicate polio in the world since 2011, when Sheikh Mohamed started working with Mr and Mrs Gates to tackle the issue.