Support flows through aid agencies

The UAE has supported the World Health Organization's response to the Ebola outbreak in Africa, with assistance provided through the UAE Aid Agency on the orders of UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The move reflects what Emirati officials describe as a core national commitment to responding to health emergencies that threaten vulnerable populations, regardless of where they occur.

Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, Minister of State, said the UAE had no intention of remaining passive as the outbreak continued to spread. The country, he said, was already working with governments, UN agencies, and regional bodies to coordinate its response, and he intended to keep doing so for as long as the situation required.

The president's guiding hand

Sheikh Shakhboot was clear that the initiative flowed directly from the president's own priorities. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, he said, had long insisted that protecting human life and preserving human dignity were not aspirations to be invoked in speeches but obligations to be met through action on the ground. The UAE's involvement in the Ebola response, he added, was precisely that — not a gesture, but a practical commitment backed by resources.

A strain that does not respect borders

Regarding the nature of the threat itself, Sheikh Shakhboot pointed to WHO data showing that the Bundibugyo strain of the virus was moving across borders and affecting people of all ages, making a coordinated international response not just desirable but urgent. The UAE, he said, was doing its part—supplying approved vaccines, medicines, and medical equipment and working with both international organisations and local bodies on the ground to ensure that treatment centres in affected areas were properly supported.