Sheikh Mohamed pays tribute to Sudanese doctor

A Sudanese doctor who campaigned to end tropical diseases that blight the lives of millions has been honoured by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Dr Nabil Aziz Awad Alla, who died last week, was the Carter Centre’s country representative in Sudan. The centre works to eradicate neglected diseases.

“We honour the life and work of our friend, Dr Nabil Aziz Awad Alla,” Sheikh Mohamed said.

“His courage and leadership to end Guinea worm in his home country, often at great personal risk, continue to inspire us to rid the world of neglected tropical diseases.”

The Carter Centre posted a biography from last year that charted his work as a handson physician who traversed his country to treat people in rural areas.

“Nabil’s preference for action over office has produced a pile of perilous episodes,” the centre’s biographer wrote.

“He once made a field visit to a town while it was under armed siege; during a Guinea worm surveillance trip, he nearly died of cerebral malaria; and he’s been stranded in the desert – once, with no food and little water, and another time, with three flat tyres.

“Nabil shrugs off these hair-raising incidents as part of the job.”

Sudan stopped transmission of Guinea worm in 2002, and has not had a case since.

The Carter Centre has worked to eradicate the disease, which has declined from about 3.5 million cases a year in 1986 to only 54 in 2019. It is on track to be the first human disease eradicated since smallpox.

Dr Alla earned his medical degree from the Medical University of Lodz in Poland in 1970 and a master of science from the Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, seven years later.

He has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals on Guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma and a variety of communicable diseases.