Abu Dhabi: A generous grant to a children’s hospital by the Abu Dhabi Government has enabled hundreds of minimally invasive surgeries over the last five years. These efforts in the United States are now set to continue as the UAE Ambassador to the USA steps in to raise funds for the renowned facility.
Yousuf Al Otaiba, the Ambassador to the United States, will lead fund-raising efforts for the Children’s National Medical Centre (CNMC) at an upcoming ball in Washington DC. The money collected will be used to support further research and medical projects at the CNMC, which houses the Shaikh Zayed Institute for Paediatric Surgical Innovation.
“There are few other international relationships more important to the UAE than our deep and continuing relationship with the CNMC,” said Al Otaiba.
“Not only do Emirati children who are severely unwell receive the best treatment here, but the research being conducted is helping to enhance international childcare,” he added.
The Shaikh Zayed Institute was established in 2009 following a $150 million (Dh550 million) gift made in honour of the UAE founding father and first president, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It treats more than 100 Emirati patients each year, and its pain medicine unit has already treated more than 5,000 patients till date.
One of Al Otaiba’s children also underwent surgery at the facility at the age of four months. The ambassador and his wife, who greatly support the hospital, are therefore chairing this year’s ball along with a pair of their close friends.
But it is not just surgeries that the facility offers. As part of a 20-year partnership the CNMC has established with the UAE, it worked to make pulse oximetry tests mandatory for all babies born at Abu Dhabi hospitals. As reported by Gulf News, this test, which screens for critical congenital heart diseases, helped save 13 babies in its first year of implementation alone. Till date, this number has increased to 34 babies.
Experts at the Shaikh Zayed Institute and CNMC also undertake numerous research projects, and 51 of them are in development at present. Forty-four patents have also been filed, including one for a device that helps in the diagnosis and treatment of pain in children.
The institute also supports fellowships for advanced professionals as well as innovation training programmes for university students. Sixteen participants from the UAE have already attended these sessions, which also gets students from across the United States.
