Nabadat initiative will provide 30 heart surgeries for free

Launched by Dubai Health Authority and the Mohammed bin Rashid Charity and Humanitarian Establishment, the initiative provides free medical assistance, surgery and post-surgical care to children whose parents cannot afford to pay.

Cardiologists at Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will perform 30 heart surgeries for free as part of the Nabadat initiative.

Nabadat was launched by DHA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Charity and Humanitarian Establishment to provide free medical assistance, surgery and post-surgical care to children whose parents cannot afford to pay. The DHA sponsors the treatment for Emiratis and the charity funds treatments for expatriates.

More than 350 children with congenital heart disease have undergone life-saving procedures since its launch in 2007. Emiratis as well as expatriates are eligible for the programme.

“This time we have cooperated with a team of cardiac experts from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and we will conduct open heart surgeries and other procedures over the course of a week,” said Dr Obaid Al Jassim, head of cardiothoracic surgery at Dubai Hospital.

“The aim of this initiative is to reduce the economic and physiological burden faced by families of children with congenital heart problems, provide a new lease on life for young children as well as help in transfer of knowledge and skills. The initiative also helps reduce the cost of overseas treatment as such surgeries cost Dh300,000 on an average, abroad.”

Under the current initiative, 40 per cent of patients are Emirati, the rest are expatriates and visitors. The patients are from Oman, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Kenya and Philippines.