Dubai Health Authority, DHA, has donated AED 1 million to the U.A.E. Suqia campaign, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to provide clean drinking water to five million people in impoverished countries experiencing water scarcity.
Essa Al Maidoor, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority, said: "We, at the DHA, are pleased to participate in this humanitarian campaign, especially during the Holy month of Ramadan. The DHA firmly supports such initiatives that enhance the U.A.E.’s leading role in the field of humanitarian work." Al Maidoor commended the efforts of the U.A.E. and its leadership in meeting humanitarian needs and improving the quality of life of those living in countries of need.
He added that through this campaign, DHA will support the efforts of the Noor Dubai Foundation to provide clean drinking water, especially in Amhara, a region in Northern Ethiopia, to help combat the spread of trachoma, a bacterial infection of the eye that causes blindness if left untreated.
The disease is mainly caused by the lack of tools for basic hygiene, clean water and adequate sanitation. Children bear the highest burden of trachoma infections and women are almost twice as likely as men to develop its advanced stage, trichiasis, due to their role as traditional care-givers for children who may unknowingly pass the infection on to their mothers.
Noor Dubai has already dug 145,032 wells in Amhara to provide clean drinking water. This is one of the essential steps to prevent the spread of the disease, and will continue to do so until 2016, in addition to providing other aspects of care to eliminate trachoma.