His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, pledged Dh110 million in funding support for the global effort to wipe out polio.
Sheikh Mohamed was among the 31 donors that contributed to a cause that seeks to gather $1.2 billion (Dh4.77 billion) to help eradicate the viral disease that affects mostly children.
His donation will go to the Global Eradication Initiative, which is conducting anti-polio activities like vaccination and polio cases monitoring covering more than 450 million children annually.
“The UAE is proud to be a leader in the effort to end polio,” the National quoted Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE’s ambassador to the US, as saying. “The Emirates look forward to a future in which every child around the world is able to experience the full economic and health benefits of polio eradication.”
In 2011, the Crown Prince partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to give Dh367.3 billion to fund polio vaccination efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He also pledged Dh440.8 million during the inaugural Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi in 2013.
Photo Credit: USA Television
