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The UAE continues its prominent role in supporting global efforts to treat and cure cardiovascular diseases, which are considered one of the leading causes of death around the world, through several initiatives and strategies, in line with its commitment to a solid approach based on active participation in humanitarian work, contributing to the stability and empowerment of societies, and caring for human safety and health.
Expansion plans
These efforts complement the new support provided by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Initiatives, worth AED 220 million, to the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation, to contribute to the implementation of expansion plans and enhance its ability to provide the finest healthcare services, bringing the total support provided to the Foundation to approximately AED 320 million, under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives.
International Hospitals
The UAE is working to implement a number of international initiatives and programmes to help reduce the spread of heart disease. The country recently launched, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, “may God protect him”, the Emirates Global Hospitals Programme, which aims to improve healthcare around the world.
The launch of the programme comes within the framework of the “Zayed Humanitarian Legacy” initiative, which aims to build 10 hospitals dedicated to meeting the specialised health needs of beneficiary communities, with financial support amounting to approximately 550 million dirhams.
The launch of the Emirates-Indonesia Heart Hospital, currently under construction in Sura Karta Solo, Central Java, is the first stage of the UAE programme. The hospital will provide vital services to thousands of patients suffering from heart disease, which is a major cause of death in Indonesia, in light of the significant increase in heart disease and strokes, and the burden of these diseases.
With a capacity of 135 beds, the hospital features comprehensive facilities, including outpatient and inpatient services, specialized treatment rooms, and a state-of-the-art emergency department. This medical facility is expected to set new standards in cardiac care.
Pakistan
The Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Cardiac Institute in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province in Pakistan, stands as a testament to the UAE’s efforts to promote healthcare at the global level. It was opened in 2022, and is located on a building area of 121,406 square metres, at a cost of $27,304,000, funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
The institute is considered the first specialized institute for treating heart diseases in Balochistan province, and the most modern in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It works as a reference center for hospitals and clinics in the province, with regard to diagnosing and treating heart diseases, and diagnosing cancer for all residents of the regions and cities of Balochistan province and neighboring provinces, which qualifies it to provide distinguished specialized treatment services, at the hands of medical and technical cadres, who enjoy scientific experience and competence.
The institute serves, directly and indirectly, more than 12 million Pakistani citizens, residents of Balochistan province, where the number of heart patients is about 70,900 patients, more than 1,064 of whom die annually due to the lack of treatment. The institute’s capacity includes providing diagnostic and treatment services to more than 500 patients daily, and 182,000 patients annually, at the hands of a medical staff consisting of 136 doctors and specialists, in addition to a nursing and technical staff of 350 nurses and technicians.
9.4 million beneficiaries
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation pays great attention to the healthcare and disease control axis, as it is one of the pillars of its work, as it launches therapeutic and preventive initiatives and campaigns, and various programs to contain health problems, combat infectious diseases and epidemics, and alleviate the suffering of individuals in less fortunate areas around the world.
Through this axis, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation extended a helping hand to 9.4 million people around the world in 2023, while the total spending of the Foundation on various initiatives, programmes and projects within it during the past year reached about 209 million dirhams, an increase of 166.5 million dirhams over 2022.
The projects and initiatives of this axis pay great attention to providing urgent healthcare, developing its mechanisms, supporting and financing research, study and medical grant programmes, qualifying and empowering medical personnel, investing all efforts and capabilities to provide sustainable health environments, and ensuring the preservation of human wealth for societies.
In this regard, Al Jalila Foundation, which falls under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation, has achieved great accomplishments since its establishment in 2013, through its programs and projects in the fields of medical education, research, patient care, and improving the lives of thousands of individuals. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided medical and therapeutic support to 8,768 cases, 30% of which are children suffering from life-threatening diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and other chronic diseases.
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The Hope Makers Initiative, which falls under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation, allocated the proceeds of its closing ceremony in its third session to the project of building the Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Centre in Cairo, which was chosen by the Arab Humanitarian Project, in a step that contributes to treating millions of patients from the most vulnerable groups in the Arab world.
The ceremony witnessed the largest donation campaign of its kind on live television, where a number of businessmen and institutions in the UAE pledged to donate to the humanitarian project of the year, represented by the Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Center in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. The volume of donations at the ceremony amounted to 44 million dirhams from Pioneers of Hope, and 44 million dirhams from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation, bringing the total to 88 million dirhams.
Cardiac catheterization surgeries
In 2023, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, directed the establishment of the Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Cardiac Catheterization Unit, within the Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Centre in Cairo, in order to provide free treatment services and cardiac catheterization surgeries to children and less fortunate patients from all over the Arab world, in addition to training doctors and surgeons in this precise medical specialty.
The Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Catheterization Unit will be fully equipped to provide advanced treatment services around the clock, and its services will be provided free of charge. It will include the latest operating room equipment that relies on medical technology applications and robotic surgery, to perform 9,000 catheterizations for children and patients annually.
Humanitarian initiative
The UAE launches many humanitarian and medical initiatives to provide support and care to heart patients in many countries around the world, whether through providing free examinations, surgeries, distributing medicines and medical supplies, and training local cadres on the latest technologies, which contributes to enhancing joint efforts to treat heart diseases.
One of the most prominent of these initiatives is the “Nabdat” initiative, which is a charitable, humanitarian, and training medical project launched from the Emirate of Dubai, as a treatment campaign for congenital heart defects in children inside and outside the UAE. It comes under the auspices of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation, and is the result of cooperation between the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation and the Dubai Health Authority.
In line with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment’s keenness to carry out surgical and therapeutic catheterization operations for sick children suffering from heart defects, the Establishment, through the “Nabdat” initiative, treated 1,027 children, at a cost of approximately 3.7 million dirhams in 2023.
The UAE also regularly hosts international conferences and seminars on heart diseases, with the participation of senior doctors and experts, to exchange experiences and expertise, and reduce the incidence of heart diseases at the global level, while enhancing the UAE’s position as a leading destination in the field of healthcare.
