President Sheikh Mohamed visits Children’s National Hospital in Washington

UAE leader greets Emirati families and patients receiving treatment

President Sheikh Mohamed visited the Children's National Hospital in Washington on Sunday and was given a tour and briefed on the hospital’s specialised departments.

The tour included visiting the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Paediatric Surgical Innovation. Sheikh Mohamed was shown the technology and innovation used to treat its patients, state news agency Wam reported. One such innovation was the miniature pacemaker for infants, first shown to Sheikh Mohamed in 2019, which has since been used in more than 40 paediatric patients, five of them newborns.

The President was also briefed on the tasks of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Command Centre, which uses advanced artificial intelligence technology to diagnose and proactively detect critical medical conditions such as cardiac arrests. The centre allows surgeons and cardiologists to provide remote medical consultations with doctors from around the world, including Abu Dhabi and the Emirati field hospital in Gaza.

Sheikh Mohamed met Emirati children receiving treatment and their families and wished them a speedy recovery. The UAE has contributed $150 million to support the Children’s National Hospital in Washington over the years, establishing the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Paediatric Surgical Innovation, and $30 million to establish the Research and Innovation Complex.

His hospital tour came before his official meetings with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, which took place on Monday. The UAE and US emphasised areas of current and future collaboration, releasing a joint statement with a focus on business, climate, foreign policy and space exploration.