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September 3rd, 2022 ― Doha: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has deployed a delegation from Doha to carry out a medical convoy for general surgery in Bangladesh.
A medical team of consultants, doctors, and nurses from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Sidra Medicine volunteered to take part in this project.
Upon their arrival to Dhaka, the delegation were received by representatives of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) and the Embassy of Qatar in Bangladesh.
The one-week medical convoy is aimed at reducing mortality and morbidity rates among poor patients, by providing free-of-charge general-surgery services for as many beneficiaries as possible, whether refugees at camps or the local community in Cox's Bazar and Teknaf.
One development goal of the project is to build the capacity of the local medical professionals, to help them perform better, by exchanging experience with the medical team.
The members of the delegation are Dr. Jawhara Hamad Saif Al-Qahtani (resident doctor), Dr. Ambika Anand (Senior Consultant), Dr. Suhail Mohamed Gamal Ahmed (Anesthesia Consultant), Dr. Hassan Salem Baghazal (Senior Consultant), Dr. Sayed Mohamed Ali (Senior Consultant), Soha Hassan Ali (Nurse), and Dr. Izzedeen Gaafar (Medical Convoys Program Coordinator at QRCS’s Relief and International Development Division).
In coordination with the Embassy of Qatar in Bangladesh, the medical team will perform 160 surgeries, provide post-operative care, and examine 700 patients at the Teknaf Public Hospital and the QRCS-operated field hospital of BDRCS at the refugee camps.
Earlier, the patients were subject to initial medical examinations, and the list of beneficiaries was developed, as part of a prioritized agenda made by local doctors, under the supervision of QRCS’s representation mission in Bangladesh. BDRCS and QRCS worked together on the socioeconomic studies to ensure the eligibility of beneficiaries. They also evaluated the host hospital’s needs of human resources and medical equipment.
QRCS will cover the costs of medical consumables, medications, examinations, and staff remunerations. The local medical professionals will attend the procedures, as a form of in-service training.
This medical convoy is very important for the target community, due to the lack of specialized surgeons, extreme poverty, scarcity of hospitals in refugee areas, and low-quality health services.
About Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS)
Established in 1978, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) is Qatar’s first humanitarian and volunteering organization that aims to assist and empower vulnerable individuals and communities without partiality or discrimination.
QRCS is a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which consists of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and 192 National Societies. It is also a member of several GCC, Arab, and Islamic organizations, such as the Islamic Committee of International Crescent and the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization (ARCO). In this legally recognized capacity, QRCS has access to disaster and conflict zones, thus serving as an auxiliary to the State of Qatar in its humanitarian and social efforts — a role that distinguishes it from other local charities and NGOs.
Both locally and internationally, QRCS has relief and development operations in numerous countries throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Central and South America. Its humanitarian mandates include disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and risk reduction. To mitigate the impact of disasters and improve the livelihoods of affected populations, QRCS provides medical services, food, water, shelter, and other needs of local communities. It is also active at the humanitarian diplomacy and advocacy front.
With the help of a vast network of trained, committed staff and volunteers, QRCS aspires to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity, inspired by the seven Fundamental Principles of humanitarian action: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.