In recognition of its advanced and solid healthcare infrastructure, commitment and leadership, Abu Dhabi was once again recognised as the world’s top pandemic-resilient city globally by Deep Knowledge Analytics (DKA), a London-based DeepTech analytical subsidiary of Deep Knowledge Group (DKG). The recognition reflects the emirate’s comprehensive, efficient and timely Covid-19 pandemic response that reinforced Abu Dhabi’s healthcare sector as a leading model regionally and internationally.
In a similar report published by DKA in the first half of 2021, Abu Dhabi was also ranked as the leading city in response to Covid-19 globally. Since then, an additional 28 cities have been examined and added to the ranking, which now assesses a total of 100 cities.
The Pandemic-Resilient Cities Ranking evaluates the continued progress of key cities and presents additional policy recommendations to rectify major shortcomings. The report is based on six parameters that city governments have been focusing on to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and demonstrate resilience and readiness for similar public health issues in the future. These parameters are government efficiency, economic resilience, healthcare management, quarantine measures, vaccination strategy and cultural compliance.
As a result of its robust and successful response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Abu Dhabi was able to ensure business continuity without any closures, which enabled the emirate to preserve the health and safety of the wider community, ensure business continuity and enable all sectors to advance the emirate’s economic development.
The emirate achieved a Covid-19 testing capacity of over 500,000 tests per day and established 27 drive-through testing and vaccination centres across the emirate with nearly 100% of the community receiving the Covid-19 vaccination. Additionally, Abu Dhabi succeeded in increasing the healthcare capacity by 200% pertaining to the number of patient beds at hospitals as well as the increasing number of intensive care beds by 300%. All of this supported by an agile, data driven, science based and world leading policies and intervention that resulted in one of the lowest mortality rate and infection per capita rate globally.
The efforts come in line with Abu Dhabi’s efforts to leverage life science, innovation, digitalisation and medical tourism to position itself as a leading destination for healthcare. The emirate continues to provide the latest innovative treatments to preserve the health and safety of the community. DoH signed strategic agreements with major international pharmaceutical companies to provide the latest treatments to patients with mild, moderate and critical symptoms and immunocompromised patients who cannot receive vaccinations; and to provide preventive treatments to protect all members of the community from the Covid-19 virus.
Furthermore, Abu Dhabi also received the first global shipment of AstraZeneca’s Evusheld, which generates antibodies for immunocompromised patients. Additionally, Abu Dhabi and Roche, the world’s largest biotech company, announced a strategic partnership to adopt the latter’s casirivimab and imdevimab for the prevention and treatment of mild to moderate symptoms of Covid-19 patients.
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