United Arab Emirates-based philanthropy Reaching the Last Mile has been supporting health initiatives aimed at eliminating some of the world’s neglected diseases, as well as polio and malaria. But climate change has pushed them to rethink their approach.
“More recently, we've been thinking about how climate change has been directly affecting and potentially hindering progress on achieving health gains across these [diseases],” said Tala Al Ramahi, director of Reaching the Last Mile, the philanthropic global health initiative by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “This is why we've been rethinking how we approach disease elimination.”
The 2022 Pakistan floods are an example of how their work is being challenged by climate change. Al Ramahi said a large part of Sheikh Mohammed’s commitments has been on eradicating polio. But the floods — which have largely been attributed to climate change — disrupted that work.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
