A total of 15 cases — from different nationalities and age groups — with congenital heart defects received treatment by the Nabadat Initiative.
The Nabadat initiative, which means heartbeats in Arabic, aims to provide free medical assistance, surgery and post-surgical care to children whose parents cannot afford to pay for the treatment of congenital heart diseases.
Dr Obaid Al Jassim, Head of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department at Dubai Hospital said the Nabadat team, which comprises of DHA doctors conducted diagnostic and cardiac catheterisation procedures for those suffering from congenital heart diseases through four days.
He said that the DHA covered the cost of the diagnostic and treatment procedures of Emirati patients, while the Mohammad Bin Rashid Charity and Humanitarian Foundation covered the cost of those from other nationalities.
Dr Al Jassim revealed that the initiative, which was launched on October 2007 by the DHA and Mohammad Bin Rashid Charity and Humanitarian Foundation has succeeded in implementing 22 campaigns in the UAE and eight campaigns abroad.
Since its inception, Nabadat benefited more than 875 children (out of which 350 were Emirati and 525 were from other nationalities) through open-heart surgeries and catheterisation operations, and diagnosed more than 5,000 children in the UAE and abroad.
Dr Jasim revealed that in light of the Year of Zayed, Nabadat will be launching medical missions abroad to treat children with congenital heart disease in countries like Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Sudan, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda and Tajikistan to name a few.
Al Jassim, concluded by highlighting the initiative’s humanitarian role in providing free treatment for children with heart deformities from various nationalities, thereby easing the financial, psychological and social burden on their families. Nabadat, overseen by the DHA and the foundation, organises medical and educational programmes, transfers and nationalises relevant international expertise in the authority’s hospital, and equips the cardiology departments of developing nations with medical equipment required for heart surgeries.
