Bill Gates, the world's richest man, just gave a shout out of appreciation to the UAE for its efforts to eradicate polio.
The founder of Microsoft, who is worth more than $80 billion according to Forbes, tweeted his excitement after the UAE committed to contributing $30 million "to end polio for good."
The pledge was made at the Rotary Convention in Atlanta on Monday, where representatives from other governments made similar commitments. In total, governments and partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative made $1.2 billion in combined pledges.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, created by the Microsoft founder and his wife, pledged a total of $450 million. Eradicating polio has become a major goal of Gates and his wife.
Thirty years ago, the crippling disease was widespread in developing nations. Now, following global efforts, the disease only inflicts children in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
"The UAE is proud to be a leader in the effort to end polio and looks forward to a future in which every child and every country around the world is able to experience the full economic and health benefits of polio eradication," Yousuf Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the US said, according to Gulf News.
Back in 2011, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed partnered with Gates to tackle polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan. At the time, each partner committed $50 million to eradicate the disease in the two countries.
Gates also highlighted the important efforts of the UAE in the fight against polio earlier this year. In a video message, he specifically mentioned Sheikh Mohamed's partnership.
"In fact, he [Sheikh Mohammed] has used his unique relationship with a lot of the key countries, including Pakistan, to help make our work there very, very successful," Gates said in the video.