The season finale of Formula 1 is built on spectacle, storylines and the race to the chequered flag. This past weekend in Abu Dhabi, that flag carried a new meaning. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) unveiled The Last Square Campaign, a global awareness effort marking the final stretch in the race to eliminate polio.
The campaign reimagines the iconic finish-line flag by replacing one black square with a single red one. That final red square represents the last 0.1 percent of polio cases left in the world, a reminder that while progress has been extraordinary, the race is not yet over.
Two figures from the world of motorsport stood at the front of the campaign: Emirati racing driver Amna Al Qubaisi and two-time Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen. Both bring lived experience of what the chequered flag symbolises, and both are lending their voices to what they call the most important finish line of all.
“We’ve made amazing progress and I am beyond proud of the role my country, the UAE, has played in getting us this far to end polio. We’re closer than ever to winning this race for children everywhere,” said Amna Al Qubaisi.
Racing Toward the Finish Line
As part of the campaign, Al Qubaisi and Häkkinen are featured in a series of short films reflecting on their personal relationship with the finish-line flag and why the symbolism behind The Last Square matters. Their voices underline the urgency of completing the world’s final sprint toward eradication.
After the Grand Prix weekend concluded, Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation and a core GPEI partner, joined Amna Al Qubaisi at Yas KartZone for a friendly race that shone a light on the campaign’s message of global responsibility, momentum and hope.
The Last Square
Polio once paralyzed more than 350,000 people each year. Because of decades of collective action, leadership and vaccination efforts, cases have dropped by more than 99 percent since 1988. Twenty million people are walking today who otherwise would have been paralyzed.
But the job is not yet done. Children in some of the world’s most fragile settings are still being paralyzed, and the risk of international spread remains high.
The GPEI partnership, which includes the World Health Organization, Rotary International, U.S. CDC, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation and Gavi, urgently requires continued financial and political support to cross the final threshold and protect generations to come.
“Polio is a horrific disease that paralyses vulnerable children around the world. We’ve almost ended this disease for good. But this last square represents the 0.1 percent of polio cases we still need to stop,” said Mika Häkkinen, reflecting on the significance of a finish line he knows well.
The UAE’s Leadership in the Race Against Polio
Today at a pledging event hosted by the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity during Abu Dhabi Finance Week, the UAE announced a contribution of US$ 140 million to support the global push to end polio for good. The event, Investing for Humanity: Uniting to End Polio, raised US$ 1.9 billion in total.
The UAE continues to be one of the most influential global leaders in the fight against polio. His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, has personally committed more than US$ 525 million since 2011. This support helps reach more than 400 million children each year with lifesaving vaccines and ensures sustained international attention on the importance of eradication.
In Pakistan, the Emirates Polio Campaign works alongside the government to vaccinate children in remote and rural communities. More recently, His Highness supported emergency response efforts in Gaza, helping deliver vaccines to more than 550,000 children.
Sustained financial support, including from the UAE, remains critical to ending polio once and for all and protecting future generations.
