(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, has lauded an initiative launched by General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for global polio eradication by 2018.
This came during a meeting he held on Saturday with the UAE ambassador to Islamabad Isa Abdullah Al Nuaimi.
"The WHO attaches great importance to General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's initiative to eradicate polio in all affected areas. The UAE, under the wise leadership of its President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has spared no effort in supporting humanitarian and developmental projects all over the world," added Alwan.
The meeting touched on the plans to eradicate polio under the support given by the UAE, as well as coordination between the UAE and WHO in supporting health programmes in Pakistan.
Earlier this year, Gen Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed pledged a donation of $120 million (Dh440 million) in support of a child health initiative to eradicate polio by 2018, worldwide. The prime focus will be in the regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where polio still remains endemic.
A partnership between Gen Shaikh Mohammed and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation made a combined donation of $100 million (Dh367.3 million) in 2011 to buy and deliver the polio vaccines to children in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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