Dubai: A Dubai-based healthcare conglomerate, DM Healthcare, has pledged to provide free of cost heart surgery for 25 Afghan nationals, who will be operated on at the group`s facility in India.
Dr. Moopen`s Foundation, the not-for-profit arm of DM Healthcare, announced `Healing Touch` Free Heart Surgery programme, a part of its `Care Beyond Boundaries` initiative, which will provide free surgery to 25 deserving adults and children of Afghanistan over a period of a year.
Azad Moopen, Chairman & Managing Director, DM Healthcare, said that the selected patients will be provided Indian visa for their travel and treatments at the group`s Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences in Calicut.
Moopen made the charity promise at an Iftar gathering hosted by DM Foundation here recently in the presence of top ranking officials of Afghan and Indian missions in the UAE.
Consul General of India in Dubai Sanjay Verma, Afghanistan Ambassador of the UAE Najibullah Mojadidi and Afghan Consul General Atiqullah Atifmal were present on the occasion.
Verma hailed the humanitarian initiative and offered all support in implementing the program.
Commenting on the initiative, Atifmal said, "We are extremely happy and grateful to the DM Foundation for this big hearted initiative that helps Afghani heart patients. We hope this project will reach out to many people in need of these surgeries and help provide them a new lease of life."
"We will provide 25 cardiac surgeries over a period of a year, valid from Aug 1 2013, for the deserving Afghani nationals. The needy patients will be chosen with recommendation and reference of the Afghan government," Moopen said.
"Our goal of is to extend the reach of this `Healing Touch` initiative to more countries in the Asian and African continents, where there is an acute requirement for intervention in the delivery of healthcare to the poor and needy," he added.
PTI
