Bill Gates to tell Global Vaccine Summit: Polio can be eradicated in 5 years

ABU DHABI // The billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates will tell a summit in the capital today that polio can be eradicated in five years and more than 20 million lives saved by 2020.

The Microsoft chairman will address more than 300 global leaders, health experts and business chiefs at the world's first Global Vaccine Summit. "Vaccines work to save lives and protect children for a lifetime," said Mr Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. "By investing in stronger immunisation systems, we can protect our gains against polio and reach mothers and children with other health services."

The summit, under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and in partnership with the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, will discuss how to reach the world's poor children for immunisations. Mr Gates, who also writes in The National today, will speak in honour of the individuals, communities, partners and nations working to try to immunise every child.

Fewer than 250 polio cases were reported last year, compared with 650 in 2011, but more work is needed to reach the neediest children. Polio remains endemic only in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, and the hardest-to-reach children - those of migrant workers, the displaced and those living in areas of conflict and insecurity - are most at risk.

Despite progress, one child still dies every 20 seconds from preventable diseases such as pneumonia, rotavirus, measles and meningitis.

The summit, which will continue tomorrow, is being held during World Immunisation Week to continue the momentum of the Decade of Vaccines, a collaboration between figures from the global vaccine community to reach everyone who needs a vaccine.

Eradicating polio is a critical part of the strategy.

Last May, nearly 200 countries came together to endorse the Global Vaccine Action Plan, to develop better and more affordable vaccines and deliver them through stronger routine immunisation systems.

The plan aims to save more than 20 million lives and prevent nearly one billion illnesses by 2020. It is estimated this will save nearly US$12 billion (Dh44bn) in treatment costs.

"Immunisation is one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent disease and safeguard young lives," said UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

"The global success so far in fighting polio shows how far we can advance. Our great progress came thanks to an international alliance of partners.

"Today, we have a window of opportunity to end polio forever."

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi), which secures funding for vaccination programmes in the world's 73 poorest countries, aims to expand its operations through greater cooperation with governments, private business groups and non-government organisations at the vaccine summit.

Summit attendees, including ministers of health, frontline healthcare workers, international non-governmental organisations and donors, will discuss a roadmap to eliminate the disease, which will be released after the conference and will cover the financial, technical and political requirements.

Organisers hope it will be the final eradication strategy and, by 2018, polio will be only the second human disease to be eradicated, after smallpox was in 1979.

The two-day vaccines summit is being held at Jumeirah Etihad Towers.

Other speakers at the event include Kofi Annan, the former secretary general of the United Nations and Nobel Prize Laureate; Margaret Chan, the World Health Organisation's director general; Seth Berkley, the chief executive of GAVI Alliance; Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, the Minister of Development and International Cooperation in the UAE; Ade Adepitan, a British Paralympic champion and broadcaster; Anthony Lake, the executive director of Unicef; and Ahmed Mohamed Ali Al Madani, president of the Islamic Development Bank Group.

jbell@thenational.ae

England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29

The finalists

Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho

Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson

Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)

Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid

Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola

France and Covid-19

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England Test squad

Ben Stokes (captain), Joe Root, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts

The specs

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FFP EXPLAINED

What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.

What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.

What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.

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Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
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COMPANY%20PROFILE

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Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

MATCH INFO

Southampton 0
Manchester City 1 (Sterling 16')

Man of the match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Kumulus Water

Started: 2021

Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid

Based: Tunisia

Sector: Water technology

Number of staff: 22

Investment raised: $4 million

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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COMPANY%20PROFILE

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Sole survivors

Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme

Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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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