UAE Contributes 500,000 COVID-19 Testing Kits worth USD 10 Million to World Health Organization
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The United Arab Emirates announced today that it had donated USD 10 million worth of PCR COVID-19 testing kits sufficient for 500,000 people to the World Health Organization. The donation was made in cooperation with Group 42 (G42), a leading UAE Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing company, and Chinese genome sequencing giant BGI. The donation of the testing kits supports global efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in light of the scarcity of testing supplies in several countries.
“The COVID-19 pandemic requires a truly global response coordinated by a strong multilateral system. The UAE’s contribution is part of the long-standing partnership between our country and the WHO. We are proud to be able to support ongoing global relief efforts by augmenting WHO’s capacity to curb the spread of the disease,” said H.E. Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation.
“We agree with WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the essential role that testing plays in containing COVID-19. Testing also fosters the conditions necessary forglobal economic recovery by helping to identify patients, ensure that they receive care, and control transmission risk. The UAE will continue its support for the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic because solidarity and coordinated, multilateral action are the only ways to counter a threat that knows no borders,” H.E. Reem Al Hashimy added.
For his part, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said: “This contribution will strengthen the capacity and availability of testing in many countries. The UAE is a strategic global partner to WHO, and we are deeply grateful to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for his continued support for our shared mission to suppress and control COVID-19 globally.”
To date, the UAE has responded to the COVID-19 crisis by providing over 714 tonnes of medical aid to 63 countries in need.
It is worth noting that Group 42 is a leading Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing company based in Abu Dhabi. The company has proven healthcare specialization, including in AI-assisted diagnosis. In partnership with BGI, Group 42 is currently providing a Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (“RT-PCR”) based detection kit for diagnosing SARS-Cov-2. BGI's RT-PCR Test for SARS-CoV-2is currently one of the most reliable and widely used testing methods with over 2 million tests already performed.