It was a noble gesture, emulative of leaders of their stature. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Wednesday greeted and thanked heroes of the frontline for their great efforts during the coronavirus pandemic on the occasion of World Health Day.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid tweeted, “Thank you…our heroes ... Thank you…our frontline ... Thank you… the safety and health valve in our country.” His Highness attached his tweet to a video clip that highlights the great efforts made tirelessly by the heroes of the frontline, to alleviate the repercussions of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed said on Twitter, “World Health Day is especially important this year. We hope that the collective fight to tackle COVID-19 will continue by ensuring equal access to vaccination for all. We also salute and thank frontline workers for their heroic efforts in responding to the pandemic.”

The world is mobilising all its capacities and medical and health teams to address the pandemic, which is a humanitarian catastrophe, with the number of cases reaching nearly 131.57 million people in over 210 countries and total deaths accounting for 2,995,975 people.

Frontline medical workers in the UAE are only too eager to serve the nation to help it stem the virus from spreading. They have reiterated their readiness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the UAE’s leadership, citizens and residents, to keep everyone safe and in good health.

One such frontliner, Dr. Ghazaleh Bilal, Executive Medical Director of Al Ain Hospital, expressed her pride at being an Emirati citizen and living in the best place in the world, stressing that the UAE is an advanced country that deserves her sacrifice.

WHO highlighted the fact that the UAE leads the Middle East in 19 indexes related to addressing public health risks.

Also significant is that the UAE’s frontline healthcare professionals overwhelmingly approve of the government’s handling of the outbreak. Nearly 95 per cent of those surveyed last year supported the coordinated national pandemic response, far greater than reports coming from other countries worldwide. The frontline professionals surveyed also identified clear pain points and challenges that the Frontline Heroes Office would work to address through its support programme.

Frontliners in the UAE are totally different to those in other countries as they have a very vibrant spirit of serving people in times of distress, particularly during the coronavirus.

The Frontline Heroes Office, FHO, has established a comprehensive national database of over 80,000 frontline professionals and volunteers actively protecting the UAE and its residents in the fight against COVID-19. The registry is a significant milestone in an initiative to care for and champion those who put themselves on the frontline in service to the people of the UAE.

To drive the development of its support and recognition programmes, the Frontline Heroes Office surveyed last year nearly 8,000 frontline professionals working in healthcare facilities across the UAE and those working in entities under the NCEMA umbrella.

That research showed the overall job satisfaction among UAE healthcare frontline professionals to be extremely high.

As mentioned before, it is an act of sacrifice. Frontline workers leave their families, friends and loved ones to serve the cause of humanity, to cater for critical cases. They do this at great risk to their lives. To help our nation maintain a frontline workforce ready and able to take on the sacrifices and risks we ask, we owe it to them to ensure they are appropriately recognised.