Bill Gates and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi reviewed progress on a $100 million fund to boost vaccines and fight disease.
In a telephone call, the billionaire philanthropist and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, discussed efforts made toward fighting and preventing diseases and epidemics hindering development, particularly polio.
State news agency Wam said the two men spoke about the Reaching the Last Mile Forum, to be hosted by the UAE capital on November 19th-2019.
At the previous event 18 months ago, Mr Gates, Sheikh Mohamed and the British government pledged $100 million to fight diseases including towards eliminating river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, also known as elephantiasis, which afflict millions worldwide.
“The fund reflects our long-term vision to save lives and put an end to neglected tropical diseases," Sheikh Mohamed said at the time.
In the phone call, Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Gates underlined their successful anti-disease partnership which has so far resulted in controlling diseases affecting children and women around the world.
They spoke of the importance of concerted action between regional and international humanitarian and charity organisations to ensure best results and practices in the field of healthcare and disease fighting.
Fixture and table
UAE finals day: Friday, April 13 at Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
- 3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
- 6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership – final standings
- Dubai Exiles
- Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Jebel Ali Dragons
- Dubai Hurricanes
- Dubai Sports City Eagles
- Abu Dhabi Saracens
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
