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His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, is a pioneer of humanitarian work in the world, and one of the most prominent inspiring figures in this field, with His Highness’s rich history in providing relief to peoples, supporting charitable, humanitarian and health projects and programmes around the world, and His Highness’s directives to support technology and innovation, and harness them to achieve a safe and sustainable future for all of humanity, and improve the quality of medical services for patients around the world.
Human health is a priority that His Highness the President of the State has always emphasized. His Highness sees investment in health as a major priority in the UAE’s development strategy and vision for the future, stressing the UAE’s commitment to continue working to support health and disease-fighting efforts in the world.
Over the past years, the directives and vision of His Highness the President of the State have formed the basis from which the UAE’s initiatives, contributions and humanitarian projects were launched, which aimed to enhance health and treatment programmes, implement vaccination campaigns, and provide vaccines to millions of children around the world.
The humanitarian initiatives of His Highness the President of the State have contributed to strengthening the UAE’s position among the world’s leading countries in providing development aid and charitable work, as it has become a constant and permanent element in confronting most of the humanitarian crises witnessed by the world, regardless of location, race, or religion.
His Highness the President of the State receiving the “World Humanitarian Personality” award from the Parliament of the Mediterranean last May represents the extent of global recognition and appreciation for His Highness’s role and continuous contributions to humanitarian relief efforts around the world, which has established his position as one of the most prominent shining models in the history of humanitarian work.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s journey is full of initiatives aimed at advancing the health sector in the world and strengthening the international system to combat the most life-threatening epidemics. During the “Covid-19” pandemic, His Highness was quick to extend a helping hand to the world, without discrimination or distinction. Under His Highness’s directives, the UAE’s aid reached 135 countries. His Highness’s generous contributions also contributed significantly to initiatives concerned with eliminating neglected tropical diseases, which are the most deadly infectious diseases in the world and affect the lives of more than 1.6 billion people.
In 2017, His Highness launched the Reaching the Last Mile Fund, a 10-year, $100 million initiative to pave the way for the end of two neglected and devastating tropical diseases: river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
project
As part of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s initiative to eradicate polio worldwide, the UAE Project to Assist Pakistan provided approximately 667.5 million doses of polio vaccine from 2014 to the end of 2022, targeting 17 million children in Pakistan.
The GLIDE Institute, founded in 2019 by His Highness, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a critical addition to the global health sector and its efforts to accelerate the elimination of preventable infectious diseases, particularly malaria, polio, neglected tropical diseases, lymphatic filariasis and river blindness.
Following the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, His Highness directed the launch of Operation “Gallant Knight 2”, which provided treatment to 13,400 cases. On November 5, His Highness the President of the State ordered the launch of Operation “Gallant Knight 3” to support the brotherly Palestinian people in Gaza, which included sending humanitarian and health aid and medicines. The UAE also inaugurated a fully-fledged field hospital in the Strip, and sent a floating hospital off the coast of the city of Arish to treat sick and injured Palestinians.
His Highness the President of the State directed the hosting of a thousand Palestinians suffering from cancer from Gaza of different age groups to receive treatment and all types of health care in the state’s hospitals. His Highness also directed the hosting of a thousand Palestinian children accompanied by their families from the Gaza Strip to provide all types of medical and health care they need in the state’s hospitals until they recover and return.
In implementation of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE recently launched an emergency vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip, in a strategic move to protect more than 640,000 children from the risk of polio.
Support innovations
As part of His Highness’s support for innovations and technologies that contribute to improving the quality of life and achieving a healthy, safe and sustainable future for humanity, His Highness the President of the State directed the launch of the “Mohammed bin Zayed Water Initiative” to address the urgent global challenge of water scarcity.
The initiative aims to accelerate the development of innovative technological solutions to address water scarcity, in addition to testing the effectiveness of these solutions to address this growing global challenge.
On March 1, a partnership was announced between the Mohammed bin Zayed Water Initiative and the American XPRIZE Foundation, aiming to launch a competition to reduce water scarcity, funded by the initiative with $150 million, and including prizes worth a total of $119 million to encourage innovators around the world to provide effective and sustainable solutions and develop them to enhance the efficiency and cost of water desalination technologies. Over the past years, the UAE has also contributed $150 million to support the Children’s National Hospital in Washington to establish the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, and $30 million to establish the Research and Innovation Complex, as part of the country’s vision to improve the lives of children from around the world by supporting the development of life-saving treatments and enhancing the levels of innovative health services provided to them.
