ABU DHABI // Bill Gates has thanked Abu Dhabi for its support in the worldwide fight to eradicate polio.
In his annual letter, the co-chair and trustee of the Gates Foundation, one of the world’s leading philanthropic organisations, said that the emirate had been a “a real partner” in the battle against the disease.
“Abu Dhabi has been a real partner on polio, not only providing resources but also taking their great relationships they have on reaching out to some of the tough areas in Pakistan, where vaccinators have not been able to reach the kids,” Mr Gates said.
He said that the foundation and Abu Dhabi had a great deal in common in the drive to lift people from poverty and to improve agricultural output to feed the poorest and ensure there were no food shortages.
Mr Gates said that his foundation was committed to wiping out polio by 2030. “We can get polio out of Africa this year and out of every country in the world in the next several years,” his letter said.
The collaboration between the Gates Foundation and the UAE culminated in 2013 with the co-hosting of the Vaccine Summit, where Dh14.6 billion ($4bn) was pledged for polio eradication, including Dh440 million by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and Dh6.6bn by Mr Gates.
Over the past four years donor organisations in the UAE have committed Dh914m in grant funding in collaboration with the foundation.
This included Dh440m for polio eradication and a Dh121m contribution to Gavi, a global vaccination alliance.
The UAE has carried out vaccination campaigns in north Pakistan, reaching 3.6 million children.
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE was also thankful for the support from this country.
“Pakistan very much appreciates UAE’s support in the eradication of polio from Pakistan. We are grateful to His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed ... for the generous assistance in reaching out to over 10 million children who received polio shots. This timely assistance has saved millions of Pakistani children from becoming victims of this disease,” he said.
Ms Ayesha Raza Farooq, the Pakistan prime minister’s focal person for polio eradication, also acknowledged the contribution.
“The support from Abu Dhabi is seen as being of high value. Being a Muslim and friendly country, UAE support has an increased public acceptance among the target communities, especially in North Wazirstan and other parts of federal administrator tribal areas. This support is invaluable and is extremely important in rebuilding trust of the people on polio activities,” Ms Farooq said.
In his annual letter, Mr Gates said that “Islamic countries are very generous donors”.
He said that his foundation had reached out to many countries over the past five years and built strong partnerships “that we expect to grow”. He also said that he appreciated the contribution of Islamic scholars.
“Another amazing thing is that Islamic scholars are speaking up in cases where there were rumours against polio vaccination. They said no, protecting children is a good thing. And our religion wants to have women who are doing that to be encouraged and safe while doing their work.
“So having them stepping in to carry those messages is very, very important,” he said.
According to the UAE’s Pakistan Assistance Programme, the UAE vaccinated more than 13.2 million children in Pakistan against polio between June and September last year.
During the four-month effort 10,235,995 children in 25 areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and 3,447,706 in the tribal regions were vaccinated.
akhaishgi@thenational.ae
