Bill Gates visits Abu Dhabi, hails UAE’s healthcare prowess

Last updated on May 31st, 2022 at 06:00 am

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates recently visited the state-of-the-art Hope Consortium vaccine cold storage facility in Abu Dhabi. Located in the remote area of Al Samha, the KIZAD (Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi) facility of the Abu Dhabi Ports has the capacity to store millions of COVID-19 vaccines at all temperatures.

Bill Gates visits Abu Dhabi

In a video blog posted on Twitter, Gates lauded the vaccine warehouse, noting that it is very modern and has a lot of great refrigeration capacity.

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“This warehouse is cool – for many reasons,” he wrote in the post caption.

The Consortium has an extensive end-to-end vaccine supply chain which has helped in delivering more than 260 million essential COVID-19 vaccines to over 60 countries around the world.

“It’s impressive to see millions of Covid-19 vaccines all in one place and think we are trying to deliver billions of these vaccines,” Gates added in the video.

UAE healthcare excellence

Bill Gates’ recent visit to the UAE has come as an affirmation of the effectiveness and efficiency of the healthcare sector in the country, particularly in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The global health crisis showcased the UAE’s proactive efforts to counter the health-related repercussions of the pandemic to enhance the safety and wellbeing of the community members. In line with this focused response to the pandemic crisis, the UAE ensured the successful implementation of its nationwide vaccine programme with more than 24.7 million vaccine doses administered to date.

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This warehouse is cool – for many reasons. pic.twitter.com/siqvwnzo2D

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 19, 2022

With the domestic production of Hayat-Vax as part of the joint collaboration between Abu Dhabi-based health tech company G42 Healthcare and Sinopharm, the UAE became the first country in the MENA region to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine.

Significantly, these efforts have put the UAE and its advanced healthcare sector in the global spotlight.

Robust efforts against COVID-19

The UAE facilitated rapid infrastructural advancements and developed a robust regulatory framework to protect impacted patients and provide them with advanced care across both public and private sectors.

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Not only in the UAE, but the Emirati authorities also undertook measures to enhance people’s awareness of the importance of taking the COVID-19 vaccine to limit the impact of the pandemic. The UAE authorities also distributed the vaccine free of cost across multiple healthcare centres in the country to ensure all community members have equitable access to the crucial immunisation.

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As part of the Hope Consortium and other initiatives, the UAE sent tonnes of COVID-19 vaccine doses and other essential medical equipment to countries across the world to assist them in their fight against the pandemic.