400 million children have benefitted from the UAE anti-polio campaigns, while the total value of its donations accounts for around US$167 million, as the world celebrates World Polio Day on Wednesday, 24th October.
ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 22nd Oct, 2018) 400 million children have benefitted from the UAE anti-polio campaigns, while the total value of its donations accounts for around US$167 million, as the world celebrates World Polio Day on Wednesday, 24th October.
The World Health Organisation, WHO, has praised the UAE's role in eliminating this epidemic and its effective contribution in funding and supporting the vaccination campaign.
The polio eradication campaign of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to eliminate the disease globally, represents a humanitarian model for ensuring the protection and survival of children.
The campaigns reflect the UAE’s commitment to the humanitarian approach in helping the underprivileged populations, nurturing human development programmes, and preserving the health of children around the world.
The WHO estimates that polio cases have fallen by 99 percent since 1988, from about 350,000 cases in that year to 22 in 2017 globally. The decrease is a result of global efforts to eradicate the disease.
The WHO affirmed that once poliomyelitis is eradicated, the world can celebrate the global benefits with all the people equally, regardless of where they live. Economic modelling has found that polio elimination will save at least US$40 to 50 billion in the next few years, most of which in low-income countries.
Poliomyelitis mostly affects children under the age of five, and one out of 200 cases is paralysed, and between 5 -10 percent of people with paralysis die because their respiratory muscles stop functioning.
