ABU DHABI // Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed pledged Dh110 million on Monday in a final push to rid the world of polio.
Sheikh Mohammed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, was one of 31 donors contributing to the US$1.2 billion, or Dh4.77bn, needed to wipe out the disease.
“The UAE is proud to be a leader in the effort to end polio,” said Yousef Al Otaiba, the Ambassador to the US. “The Emirates looks forward to a future in which every child around the world is able to experience the full economic and health benefits of polio eradication.”
The pledges were made on Monday at the Rotary Convention in Atlanta, the US, where other donors included the governments of Japan, Germany and Monaco.
Sheikh Mohammed has been a global leader in the fight against a disease that only 30 years ago paralysed more than 350,000 children a year in 125 countries.
In 2011, he linked up with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to give $100m for vaccines in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In 2013, the UAE hosted the inaugural Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi, where Sheikh Mohammed pledged $120m more.
Polio has been eliminated everywhere but Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
In those countries, only 74 cases were registered last year and only five so far this year. But children remain at risk everywhere until polio is completely killed off.
“We are closer than ever to making history,” said Chris Elias, global development president at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and chairman of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative Oversight Board.
“These new commitments will help ensure that we will finish the job.”
Experts have said that mass migration in the region made the work harder. The UAE has provided more than 116 million polio vaccines to Pakistani children under 5 between 2014 and last year.
The UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme, which runs the Emirates Polio Campaign in Pakistan, said the drive benefited children in 66 areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Sindh and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas from January 2014 to the end of May last year.
The project is part of the UAE Government’s pledge made in 2013 to provide Dh440m to support global efforts towards eradicating polio by 2018, with a focus on Pakistan, which has one of the world’s highest rates of infection.
“We are, together, truly on the verge of eradicating polio from the planet, but only if we work relentlessly to reach the children we have not yet reached,” said Anthony Lake, Unicef’s executive director.
“We cannot fail to make this last effort because if we do not now we will, and should be, judged harshly by history.”
Other major pledges include $75m from Canada, $61.4m from the European Commission and $55m from Japan.
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SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Brief scores
Day 1
Toss England, chose to bat
England, 1st innings 357-5 (87 overs): Root 184 not out, Moeen 61 not out, Stokes 56; Philander 3-46
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Revibe
Started: 2022
Founders: Hamza Iraqui and Abdessamad Ben Zakour
Based: UAE
Industry: Refurbished electronics
Funds raised so far: $10m
Investors: Flat6Labs, Resonance and various others
SPECS
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 750hp at 7,500rpm
Torque: 800Nm at 5,500rpm
Transmission: 7 Speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 332kph
Fuel consumption: 12.2L/100km
On sale: Year end
Price: From Dh1,430,000 (coupe); From Dh1,566,000 (Spider)
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
Bahrain GP
Friday qualifying: 7pm (8pm UAE)
Saturday race: 7pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
WITHIN SAND
Director: Moe Alatawi
Starring: Ra’ed Alshammari, Adwa Fahd, Muhand Alsaleh
Rating: 3/5
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.6-litre turbo
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp
Torque: 240Nm
Price: From Dh89,000 (Enjoy), Dh99,900 (Innovation)
On sale: Now
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
The Witcher - season three
Director: Various
Stars: Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra
Rating: 3/5
A Little to the Left
Developer: Max Inferno
Consoles: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
Rating: 4/5
Common symptoms of MS
- Fatigue
- numbness and tingling
- Loss of balance and dizziness
- Stiffness or spasms
- Tremor
- Pain
- Bladder problems
- Bowel trouble
- Vision problems
- Problems with memory and thinking
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Champion v Champion (PFL v Bellator)
Heavyweight: Renan Ferreira v Ryan Bader
Middleweight: Impa Kasanganay v Johnny Eblen
Featherweight: Jesus Pinedo v Patricio Pitbull
Catchweight: Ray Cooper III v Jason Jackson
Showcase Bouts
Heavyweight: Bruno Cappelozza (former PFL World champ) v Vadim Nemkov (former Bellator champ)
Light Heavyweight: Thiago Santos (PFL title contender) v Yoel Romero (Bellator title contender)
Lightweight: Clay Collard (PFL title contender) v AJ McKee (former Bellator champ)
Featherweight: Gabriel Braga (PFL title contender) v Aaron Pico (Bellator title contender)
Lightweight: Biaggio Ali Walsh (pro debut) v Emmanuel Palacios (pro debut)
Women’s Lightweight: Claressa Shields v Kelsey DeSantis
Featherweight: Abdullah Al Qahtani v Edukondal Rao
Amateur Flyweight: Malik Basahel v Vinicius Pereira
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged V6
Power: 416hp at 7,000rpm
Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km
Price: Dh375,000
On sale: now
More from Armen Sarkissian
Bridgerton season three - part one
Directors: Various
Starring: Nicola Coughlan, Luke Newton, Jonathan Bailey
Rating: 3/5
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Brief scores:
Scotland 371-5, 50 overs (C MacLeod 140 no, K Coetzer 58, G Munsey 55)
England 365 all out, 48.5 overs (J Bairstow 105, A Hales 52; M Watt 3-55)
Result: Scotland won by six runs
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Silva 8' &15, Foden 33')
Birmginahm City 0
Man of the match Bernado Silva (Manchester City)