Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs H E Dr Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi (third left), and Chairman of RAF, Dr Sheikh Khalid bin Thani Al Thani (left) honour Sudan's Federal Minister of Health, Bahar Idris Abu Garda, duri
Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) has launched a global initiative for providing health care services to those deprived worldwide in an international conference held here yesterday.
The ‘Save a Life Initiative’ (SALI) is a complete package to provide health care services to vulnerable communities in fragile areas across the globe, where access to basic health care is not possible due to unrest or lack of facilities.
The conference was attended by the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs H E Dr Issa bin Saad Jafali Al Nuaimi, RAF Chairman Dr Sheikh Khalid bin Thani Al Thani, Dr Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, Director, Public Health at the Ministry of Public Health, Sudanese Federal Minister of Health, Bahar Idris Abu Garda and other dignitaries.
“The idea is to find out root cause of diseases in targeted areas and bring about a comprehensive solution in collaboration with local authorities and international humanitarian organisations”, said Professor Ibrahim Al Jinahi, Head of the Technical Committee of SALI.
“For example, an organisation approached us seeking donation for a machine for kidney dialysis amid growing number of such cases. We asked them to wait and follow our procedures. We conduct a survey to find out reason of the diseases and assess the requirements and the number of cases.” For example, studies suggested that the cases of kidney failure were caused by drinking contaminated water.
"We launched a project to distribute clean drinking water in this area in collaboration with local authorities and international organization to eliminate the source of the disease. Based on such survey results, we launch health projects but not just to supply medical equipment and medicines. We train the local doctors and upgrade the health care facilities to enable them handle such cases. SALI includes all this process," said Al Jinahi.
“We have organized the conference to announce the global humanitarian initiative to save the life of the people worldwide, "said Dr Ayed bin Dabssan Al Qahtani, Chairman, Board of Trustees, and General Director, RAF in his inaugural speech.
"The project meant to support health sector in targeted countries by making public and private partnership to train medical cadres. We also upgrade health facilities to provide health services to residents of their localities, said Al Qahtani.
“SALI was launched nine month ago in Sudan as an experiment," David H Dombkins, an adviser to the initiative.
"We focus on women and children. We are running mobile clinics in villages. New health facilities were opened in towns and cities and existing ones were upgraded. New doctors and nurses were appointed. Medical cadres were trained to improve performances," he added.
The project in Sudan will continue for two more years at least.
"Our next target is Yemen, we are preparing to Launch SALI there. Syria and Palestine are also in our plan," he added.
RAF’s initiative in Sudan focuses especially on pregnant women to curb post-natal deaths, said Babiker Mohamed Ali of the Khartoum State Ministry of Health. Many midwives were given training to ensure safe delivery of children, he added.
