Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, pledged $10 million to the Carter Centre on Wednesday to mark the 30th anniversary of its partnership with the UAE in fighting disease.
With support from Sheikh Mohamed, also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Carter Centre will continue its work to eradicate neglected tropical illnesses, including Guinea worm disease.
The partnership began when the UAE's Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, invited former US president Jimmy Carter to the UAE for the first time.
In the meeting, Mr Carter discussed an initiative to eradicate a parasitic disease causing devastation across large parts of Africa.
Sheikh Zayed responded with a substantial donation to the Carter Centre, which began a decades-long commitment to disease eradication by Abu Dhabi's ruling family.
On Wednesday, Sheikh Mohamed said: "We are privileged to continue the legacy of ... Sheikh Zayed in our work with the Carter Centre to eradicate Guinea worm disease.
"I thank former president Carter for our decades-long partnership and his unwavering commitment to ending a disease that affects the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
"In the UAE, we have seen first hand the vital link between health and prosperity, and we remain steadfast in our vision of a world where every person deserves to live a healthy, dignified life."
Guinea worm disease eradication is closer than ever. Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Carter Centre reported that the number of Guinea worm cases in people was halved to only 27 in 2020, compared with 2019.
The Carter Centre and its partners have reduced the incidence of Guinea worm disease from about 3.5 million cases a year in 1986.
It is on track to be the first human disease eradicated since smallpox, and the first to be eradicated without the use of vaccines or drugs.
"Starting with my good friend Sheikh Zayed, and today continued through the generosity of his son, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the UAE has been a staunch ally in the battle against Guinea worm and other neglected tropical diseases," Mr Carter said.
He founded the centre with his wife Rosalynn in 1982.
"Together, the UAE and the Carter Centre have formed a strong partnership that has transcended generations," Mr Carter said.
The centre is working on eradicating five neglected tropical diseases: Guinea worm, trachoma, river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis.
Sheikh Mohamed has donated more than $250m since 2010 to efforts to eliminate preventable infectious diseases.
Wednesday's announcement was made before the second annual World NTD Day on January 30, which aims to raise global awareness for the urgent need to end neglected tropical diseases.
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Copa del Rey final
Sevilla v Barcelona, Saturday, 11.30pm (UAE), match on Bein Sports
ICC T20 Team of 2021
Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
RESULT
West Brom 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom: Livermore (79'), Rondón (88' )
Liverpool: Ings (4'), Salah (72')
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
More on Quran memorisation:
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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