The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Sunday pledged to invest $1.2 billion towards wiping out polio, as health experts from around the world gathered for a summit in Berlin.
"Polio eradication is within reach but as far as we have come, the disease remains a threat," said Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation.
The donation will be managed by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership led by governments that aims to end the disease by 2026.
Polio is a highly contagious illness caused by a virus that enters the central nervous system and damages cells in the spinal cord and brain.
The disease can be fatal, and those who survive are often left paralysed or with atrophied and twisted limbs.
Polio most often affects children under the age of 5 but can hit anyone who is not vaccinated.
Since its launch in 1988, the initiative has helped to reduce polio cases by more than 99 per cent worldwide and prevented more than 20 million cases of paralysis, the foundation said.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where the wild poliovirus remains endemic, although Malawi and Mozambique also detected imported wild polio cases this year.
"Despite this historic progress, interruptions in routine immunisation, vaccine misinformation, political unrest and the tragic floods in Pakistan in 2022 have underscored the urgent need to finish the job against polio," the foundation said.
New York governor issues disaster emergency over polio cases - video
Another concern is that "countries that had previously eliminated all forms of poliovirus have recently reported new detections". They include Britain and the US, the foundation said.
Partners in the initiative include the World Health Organisation, Rotary International and the the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2019, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi also pledged $160 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s Polio Endgame Strategy 2019-2023, and has since donated millions more to eradicate polio once and for all.
Hidden killer
Sepsis arises when the body tries to fight an infection but damages its own tissue and organs in the process.
The World Health Organisation estimates it affects about 30 million people each year and that about six million die.
Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
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Getting%20there
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Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (PA) Group 1 | US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas (TB) Listed | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
7.40pm: Meydan Classic Trial (TB) Conditions | $100,000 (Turf) | 1,400m
8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,200m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
Stage 2
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 4:18:30
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:06
4. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08
Without Remorse
Directed by: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Michael B Jordan
4/5
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 0
Stoke City 0
Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20TV%204K%20(THIRD%20GENERATION)
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
WITHIN%20SAND
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
