Healing hands reach across borders to help flood victims

Zoi Constantine visits a hospital in Pakistan set up by a UAE philanthropic organisation that is saving the lives of children affected by the devastating floods that swept the country.

Zoi Constantine visits a hospital in Pakistan set up by a UAE philanthropic organisation that is saving the lives of children affected by the devastating floods that swept the country.

THATTA // Lying on a hospital bed in a bright orange shalwar kameez, Tufail glances nervously over at two of his brothers and their heavily pregnant mother.

Just three years old, he winces as the nurse wipes his head with gauze and applies an antiseptic to the wounds on his scalp. Tufail, his parents and five siblings were all forced to flee their home in the town of Dadu as floods swept across Pakistan at the end of July.

After travelling hundreds of kilometres, the family settled in a camp near the town of Thatta, some two hours from Karachi and close to the UAE International Humanitarian Field Children's Hospital. In the room next to Tufail, nurses inspect Farzanah, just six months old, discussing how best to bring down her high fever. They are just two of the thousands of vulnerable young patients who have been treated since the 110-bed mobile field hospital was opened by the Zayed Giving Initiative last month for children affected by the floods.

Since then more than 3,500 Pakistani children have received free medical care. Volunteer and staff doctors and nurses from the UAE, Pakistan, the Philippines, Egypt and other countries treat about 150 patients every day. Fortunately, said Dr Adel al Shamry, the chief executive of the Zayed Giving Initiative, most of the medical conditions his team have come across are relatively easy to treat. Without proper medical intervention, however, they can be complicated by malnutrition and dehydration and prove fatal, he said.

"There are dermatology problems from hygiene issues and overcrowding, as well as gastroenteritis and respiratory problems," he said.

Dr Ghansham Das, 36, one of the GPs, can identify better than most with the difficulties faced by the patients. The floods swept through his town of Sujawal, causing serious damage to his clinic and home. That has not stopped him from putting his skills to use at the hospital. "I really want to help those people affected by the floods," he said.

Yesterday a steady stream of mainly Sindhi-speaking parents from the nearby temporary camps walked through the hospital's doors seeking treatment for their children. In areas around Thatta, tent camps have been pitched along the roadsides for victims fleeing the devastation caused by the floods. Near one of these camps is the children's hospital, immediately identifiable by images of the late Sheikh Zayed and UAE flags fluttering in front of the large, blue tent-like structure, which is surrounded by smaller white tents. The mobile hospital is equipped with facilities including emergency and surgical units, a pharmacy, a specialist clinic and a general paediatric ward.

Dr al Shamry and his team have also opened a satellite paediatric medical centre and operate mobile units to reach remote areas. The UAE International Humanitarian Field Children's Hospital, under the patronage of Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the wife of the late Sheikh Zayed, was set up as a "satellite" branch of the UAE International Humanitarian Mobile Hospital, which is stationed in Morocco. The paediatric field hospital, which is expected to remain in Pakistan for up to a year, is being funded through support from government, private and NGO donors.

After providing medical care for people displaced around Thatta for a month, Dr al Shamry, an Emirati heart surgeon, and his team are now preparing to pack up the hospital and move on to another location next week. "We will follow the need," he said, before getting back to work.