DUBAI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Britain has decided to contribute 1 million British pounds (1.35 million U.S. dollars) to a United Arab Emirates (UAE) fund to help contain rare tropical diseases, UAE state news agency WAM reported Saturday.
The announcement to donate to the Reaching the Last Mile Fund was made by visiting British Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt during his meeting with Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation.
"Britain and the UAE are both generous contributors of humanitarian aid, and this is an excellent example of how our countries can work together to use our humanitarian and development expertise to improve lives of the world's poorest people," Burt said.
The Reaching the Last Mile Fund, led by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, is working in seven priority countries, namely Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sudan and Yemen, for two diseases: river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
