Feb
15

Dennis Participates in “Reaching the Last Mile” in Abu Dhabi

By invitation of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Dennis Ogbe participated in a forum titled “Reaching the Last Mile: Mobilizing Together to Eliminate Infectious Diseases” on November 15th. This forum took place in Abu Dhabi, UAE and was developed in partnership with the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Carter Center. This one day forum was a gathering of the world’s leaders in global health, including Mr. Bill Gates, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr. Jim Yong Kim, to engage in a substantive conversation on the path forward to combat the world’s most threatening infectious diseases.

The forum included a celebration of the near eradication of Guinea Worm and Polio, and aimed to shed light on other infectious diseases that require intervention by the international community. It served as a platform to discuss eradication and elimination efforts, including exploring innovative solutions, leveraging cutting-edge technologies, and assessing the power of pioneering public-private partnerships.

Dennis spoke on the panel titled: “Polio and Guinea Worm Disease: How do We Cross the Line?” with Dr. Larry Brilliant. Dr. Larry Brilliant is recognized throughout the world as one of the main doctors responsible for eradicating smallpox which remains the only infectious disease ever eradicated.

This forum was also a celebration of $100 million raised by the Crown Prince to fight infectious diseases. Since the forum has taken place the Gates Foundation has committed an additional $20 million to fight infectious diseases and the British government has committed $30 million.

It was an honor for Dennis to take part in this international effort to eliminate infectious diseases that continue to ravage impoverished and disadvantaged communities around the world.