Today's Edition
ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)
On the occasion of World Polio Day, annually observed on October 24, the UAE's efforts in eradicating the virus have come to the fore.
Under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE-led polio eradication initiatives have reached millions of children in vulnerable regions worldwide.
Polio, a highly contagious virus that predominantly affects children under five, once paralysed hundreds of thousands globally. Today, it remains endemic in only two countries - Pakistan and Afghanistan. This dramatic decline is largely attributed to international vaccination campaigns, which have reached over three billion children worldwide, reducing polio cases by 99 percent.
For the UAE, eradicating polio has long been a priority. The country recorded its last polio case in 1992, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it polio-free the following year.
The roots of this success go back to the early 1990s, when the UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan took proactive steps to fight parasitic diseases in Africa, collaborating with global leaders like former US President Jimmy Carter.
Two decades later, Abu Dhabi's decades-long commitment to disease elimination and creating a world free of polioviruses continues under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has so far committed over $381 million towards global polio eradication efforts.
And in 2023 alone, UAE-supported initiatives helped deliver 320 million doses of polio vaccine to vulnerable communities globally.
In September 2024, when the poliovirus was detected in Gaza for the first time in 25 years, His Highness directed $5 million to launch a vaccination drive which reached over 559,000 children in just the first 12 days of the campaign. The initiative was carried out in partnership with the WHO, UNICEF, and local organisations.
According to the WHO, the UAE is also the main funder of the polio eradication programme in Pakistan, having provided $200 million over the past decade. The Emirates Polio Campaign, a core component of the UAE's Pakistan Assistance Programme, has distributed more than 750 million vaccine doses since its inception.
This massive operation is powered by more than 103,000 frontline health workers - most of whom are women - who go house-to-house, often in challenging terrains. These health workers are not only administering vaccines but also building trust, dispelling myths, and raising awareness about the importance of immunisation.
Beyond Pakistan, the UAE has stepped up efforts to combat polio outbreaks in countries like Afghanistan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan. The focus remains on reaching those who have not received even a single dose of the vaccine - those referred to as "zero dose" children.
Initiatives like the Emirates Polio Campaign and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are of the essence when it comes to diseases like polio, which are easily transmittable and carry high risks of resurgence.
Experts warn that failing to eliminate the disease from the last remaining hotspots could lead to 200,000 new cases annually within the next decade. In other words, for every child affected by paralysis, hundreds more may be silently carrying the virus.
The funding for these initiatives is disbursed through Reaching the Last Mile, a foundation spearheaded by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, established in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Besides polio eradication efforts, the foundation also focuses on eliminating other preventable diseases that disproportionately impact vulnerable and underserved communities worldwide.
