Dubai: A UAE-based Pakistani doctor has undertaken an ambitious project of building the first diabetes hospital for under-privileged patients back in his country.
Though Dr Asjad Hameed is not a celebrity like cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who built the country’s first cancer hospital by raising funds from people around the world, he is determined to achieve what many told him was “impossible” to do. He is all set to open the first non-for-profit dedicated centre for diabetes treatment with support of his friends and donors. So far, he said, the response has been heart warming, as Pakistani philanthropists have come out big time to support this noble cause.
Dr Asjad started the project with Dh100,000 from his personal savings and has so far spent Dh25 million on the hospital which will cost a total of Dh35 million. “We just need Dh10 million more to open the hospital,” he said.
Speaking to Gulf News, Dr Hameed, who is a consultant physician in Diabetes and Endocrinology in Abu Dhabi, said that more than 35 per cent people in Pakistan are suffering from diabetes but there is not even a single dedicated hospital to treat this ‘epidemic’. “The Diabetes Centre, which is under construction in Islamabad, will not only provide free treatment to under-privileged patients but also create awareness about the killer disease,” he said.
He urged community members, especially Pakistani expatriates, to come forward and help him complete this project. He said that the Diabetes Centre (TDC) is a registered charity with Emirates Red Crescent in the UAE and people can donate through it in addition to making direct donations. Details are available on it website — thediabetescentre.com.
“Pakistan Embassy and its consulate in the UAE are providing their full support to the Diabetes Centre,” said Moazzam Ahmed Khan, Ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE, while speaking at an iftar dinner hosted by the centre to create awareness about diabetes at the Pakistan Association in Dubai.
He said the TDC has taken on the challenge of dealing with the epidemic of diabetes sweeping through Pakistan, and they are playing a significant role in diabetes awareness, education, and health-care delivery.
Chairman of the TDC Dr Asjad said that diabetes is associated with high rate of hospitalisation, blindness, amputation, heart disease and kidney failure, among many other complications. “The estimate is that one in ten Pakistanis is diabetic and 56 per cent of them are women,” he said.
He said that TDC has already started an on-site clinic in a temporary facility where patients are treated irrespective of their ability to pay.
Since its opening, the TDC has treated 45,000 patients of whom 70 per cent were treated free of charge.
“We are also the largest charity in Pakistan, focusing on Diabetes care, treatment and awareness. Our state-of-the-art hospital is 70 per cent complete. We seek your support to complete this multi-level building project to serve many more,” he urged the community members.
He said the TDC is focusing on educating the masses by regularly organising free medical camps and awareness sessions at various locations within the country. A highly informative campaign on how to prevent and combat the disease is also being run through social media platforms.
The substantial contributions of local and international philanthropists, charities and corporate entities in the form of zakat and general donations have so far made the TDC’s journey a success.
Dr Asjad, who visits the clinic regularly, has motivated friends and family to participate and has reinvigorated their lives with a common purpose — to eradicate diabetes from Pakistan. This has helped to widen their perspective about issues related to health care and diabetes in Pakistan and has strengthened the community. “Our mission is to provide treatment to those diabetes patients who can’t afford to pay,” he added.
