Dubai: After providing more than 300 free surgeries in the UAE for Emirati and expatriate children with congenital heart diseases, the Nabadat initiative will extend its services to international shores, starting with Sudan.
The announcement was made on Tuesday.
A multi-speciality team will travel during the second week of June to treat 50 pre-selected urgent cases in Wad Madani, in southeast-central Sudan. The international humanitarian initiative mission will last for seven days.
The parents of these children cannot afford to pay for treatment.
Two kinds of surgeries will be performed — open-heart (20 cases) and catheterisation procedures (30 cases). The former is more complex and expensive, costing between Dh200,000-Dh300,000 per surgery.
The Nabadat (meaning heartbeats in Arabic) initiative by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the Mohammad Bin Rashid Charity and Humanitarian Establishment first announced its global expansion plans earlier this year.
Countries including Bangladesh, Egypt, Sudan, Syria and Yemen were considered. The Nabadat team was in talks with various hospitals to ensure sufficient infrastructural and medical follow-up requirements.
Though talks are under way to extend services to other Arab countries, the team decided to begin with Sudan, said Dr Obaid Al Jasem, cardiac surgeon and Head of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department at Dubai Hospital.
Dr Al Jasem, who will be travelling on the first international mission, told Gulf News that Sudan doesn’t have sufficient medical expertise and resources to treat congenital heart disease (CHD).
He said the team is expecting cases similar to those that have been handled in the UAE. “We chose the 50 most urgent cases from more than 250 children screened. We are expecting common congenital heart disease cases like septal defects [hole in the heart] and obstruction defects [partial or total blockage of the flow of blood].”
The team of 14 will also include seven specialists from King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) in Saudi Arabia.
Of the initiative, Ebrahim Bu Melha, chairman of the board of trustees of the Charity and Humanitarian Establishment, told Gulf News that the cost of the mission doesn’t have a cap.
“The costs can vary depending on the complexity of the cases and the required treatment,” he said.
Dr Ahmad Al Sharif, General Secretary of Dubai Sports Council (DSC) that is supporting the Nabadat initiative for the first time, said that the Council will help in fund-raising.
“Through high-profile sporting events and sports stars we hope to raise funds for the initiative,” he said, speaking to Gulf News.
In the UAE, the DHA provides free heart surgeries for Emiratis, and the Charity Establishment for expatriate patients.
