Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, On behalf of H. E. Abdulrahman ALOWEIS, Minister of Health and Prevention, I am very pleased to welcome you today in the context to the Reaching the Last Mile Forum which will be held in Abu Dhabi this November and the pledging moment for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). The United Arab Emirates together with its partners has long played a leading role in polio eradication and innovation in health by convening the Global Vaccine Summit in 2013, the Heroes of Polio Eradication awards in 2015 and the inaugural Reaching the Last Mile Forum in 2017. I am proud to mention that the United Arab Emirates is a one of the most important leader in polio eradication having supported the delivery of 417 million vaccines to protect more than 16 million children in hard-to-reach areas in Pakistan. It also supported vaccination efforts in polio outbreak in Afghanistan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan. Since 2011, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, has pledged more than US$ 167 million for polio eradication activities through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). We strongly support the methodical and hard work of H. E. Dr. Tedros the Director General of the World Health Organization and team by elaborating a strategy covering the period 2019-2023 that aims to create a world free of all polio viruses on a permanent basis. In this context, and in order to provide full funding for the implementation of this strategy, the UAE, in cooperation with the World Health Organization, will organize a donor conference to eradicate this disease. Therefore we are pleased to welcome you in Abu Dhabi in November 2019. Finally I invite you to visit the exhibition on Polio which will be organized for one week at WHO Headquarters.
