Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, over 200 global health leaders will convene in Abu Dhabi on 15th November 2017 for the "Reaching the Last Mile – Mobilising Together to Eliminate Infectious Disease" forum.

The conference, which is an international health forum focused on eliminating and eradicating preventable deadly diseases that hinder the health and economic prospects of the world’s poorest people, will be held in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Carter Centre.

The forum will see the participation of government officials, heads of international development organisations and philanthropic organisations, global health experts, and private sector representatives. It will build on the UAE’s long standing commitment to reducing and eliminating preventable disease. This global gathering will drive international action on the eradication of ‘last-mile’ diseases, such as Guinea worm and polio, and the elimination of preventable infectious diseases such as malaria and river blindness.

It will also recognise the tremendous efforts of those that have committed their lives to fighting disease on the frontline of affected countries while additionally, supporting international efforts to fight infectious diseases through public-private partnerships.

Panels will discuss the global significance of disease eradication, what it will take to cross the finish-line, and lessons learned for future health efforts. They will highlight global eradication and elimination efforts, including community-based interventions to educate and change behavior towards Guinea worm, river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, mass drug administration, the use of cutting-edge technologies to vaccinate marginalised communities against polio, and methods of tackling resistance against insecticides and malaria drugs.

Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Under-Secretary of the Crown Prince's Court of Abu Dhabi, commented, "The UAE’s focus on freeing the world of preventable disease is driven from Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's conviction that no human should suffer from a preventable disease, and that investment in disease eradication is crucial to global development. Reaching the Last Mile builds on the UAE leadership’s 30-year efforts to permanently wipe out several deadly global diseases, and prevent the spread of malaria, by paving the way for international global funding and forging strategic partnerships."

Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States, Carter Centre founder and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said, "Only one human disease has ever been eradicated, but with the strong support and cooperation of international partners, together we can aim higher. Guinea worm disease and polio are close to being eradicated, and other diseases are achieving regional elimination. Reaching the Last Mile signals a renewed determination among leaders like Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the global health community to maintain the momentum and help address human suffering everywhere."

As a result of exceptional coordinated global efforts, Guinea worm and polio are set to become the next human diseases in history to be eradicated, following the eradication of smallpox in 1980. The incidence of Guinea worm, a crippling parasitic disease that incapacitates people for extended periods of time, has fallen from a peak of approximately 3.5 million in 21 countries in Africa and Asia in 1986, to just a handful of cases so far in 2017. Cases of polio, a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease that predominantly affects children, have fallen from 350,000 in 1988 to 37 cases in 2016.

Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, commented, "We are close to eradicating some of the world’s deadliest and most debilitating preventable diseases that adversely affect the lives of millions of the world’s poorest people. While the global community has made tremendous progress in tackling these diseases, we still have more work to do. I hope that Reaching the Last Mile will help accelerate the fight against these preventable diseases, giving more of the world’s poorest people the chance to live healthy and productive lives."

The UAE leadership’s commitment to disease elimination began in 1990 when the founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, made an early US$5.77 million contribution to global efforts to eradicate Guinea worm, led by The Carter Centre. It has continued since through a series of contributions from President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nayhan.

Since 2011, H.H. Sheikh Mohamed has personally committed US$235 million to global efforts to eliminate deadly and debilitating diseases, including US$205 million towards the eradication of polio and contributions to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership committed to saving children's lives and protecting people's health by increasing access to vaccines, and US$30 million to malaria elimination.