•             Nearly 1,000  War injured Yemen soldiers & civilians underwent best-in-class treatment at Medeor Hospitals in India

•             UAE- VPS Healthcare takes up Humanitarian Medical Mission to provide quality & affordable treatment to war-injured Yemen citizens in India

Abdullah Saleh Hassen, Ms. Fatima Mohammad Ali Mohasen, Abul Rehman Ali and Abdullah Mahdi Saleh Mohammed are among those 1000 war-injured Yemen soldiers and civilians who faced severe bullet and blast injuries during the civil war and recently underwent treatment at Medeor Hospital  in India. India’s medical excellence and support from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government helped them and hundreds of war-injured fellow citizens to lead a normal active life again.

The UAE government brought several batches of victims from war-torn Yemen to India for better treatment. The recent batch (June) comprises of 26 Yemen citizens who were victims of the blast, bullet, and other injuries. The patients are undergoing treatment at Medeor Hospital here. The patients were attended by an expert team of doctors and staff from various departments such as Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Ophthalmic surgery.

” UAE has strongest bilateral tie-ups for cooperation and collaborations. Healthcare is one of the most important area of collaboration. UAE government, as its international responsibility and humanitarian aid, chose VPS Healthcare-Medeor Hospital as its partner to provide healthcare facilities to war-injured Yemen people in India. Since July 2016 till date we have provided medical help to over 1,000 Yemen people in India,” Dr Ahmed Albanna, UAE Ambassdor to India told reporters here.

UAE is providing all kinds of  medical and rehabitation support to Yemen.

“The mission was initiated by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. We are extremely privileged that the UAE government has kept the trust upon us to send the Yemini patients to our hospital in India for treatment.  We have formed a special team of specialist doctors and nurses to attend the batch of patients. We are providing them with the best of the facilities and care,” said Dr.Shamsheer Vayalil, Chairman and Managing Director of VPS Healthcare. 

The patients from Yemen were brought to New Delhi as part of the bilateral relationships between India and UAE. The Indian government has issued a medical attendance visa for these patients. The success of this mission could be attributed to the good relationship maintained by both countries.

Dr. Shajir Gaffar, Group Director, BD, VPS Healthcare, said, “India’s medical excellence is well established in the world. The UAE leadership chose us due to our excellence in healthcare in terms of quality and affordability. We hope to accomplish this humanitarian mission with a sense of brotherhood; commitment to serving people in need, providing the best-in-class multi-specialty services, and compassion. The diversity and extent of our network-enabled patients to be referred from remotely located Yemen to more centralized and super-specialty hospitals like Medeor. ”

The UAE-India Medical Mission began in 2017. To date over 600 patients have been successfully treated in India. Most of the patients need multi-disciplinary treatments and were required to undergo orthopaedic, plastic, general and neurosurgery to make full recovery.

Detailing the initiative, Rajiv Misra, Regional COO, Medeor Hospital, New Delhi said: “India has been well-known for medical tourism due to its world-class medical and clinical expertise.  As part of the UAE government’s compassionate mission to help victims of war, patients have been sent to our hospital in batches. A large group of UAE government officials and doctors regularly visit the hospital for follow-up with the patients to ensure their well-being.”

“Yemen is facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and people there desperately need quality healthcare to overcome war injuries. The wounded have been flown to India for specialised treatment. VPS Healthcare –Medeor’s compassion & tender touch, highly qualified team experts and our expertise in treating international patients helped patients from Yemen both medically and psychologically,” he added. 

This action of the UAE government to extend a helping arm has come as a great relief to those people in Yemen who were deprived of hope and disillusioned by the armed rebellion. UAE has always been kind to their fellowmen battling the odds of war and has always upheld the humanitarian values before the world.

“Our medical infrastructure and the capability of doctors to provide a full range of multi-disciplinary treatment have led to successfully curing patients who have gone back, thanking India and the UAE’s generosity for medical support and recovery,” said Mr Marwan Haji Nasser,Director,VPS Healthcare

During the Conference, a few patients from the current batch narrated their trauma and said they had severe injuries and had been undergoing treatment in their country for long. But limited medical and clinical expertise nearly made them lose hope of ever getting well. It was then that they sought help from the UAE government and was sent to India for treatment.

Renowned Orthopaedician and Chairman, Department of Orthopedics, Medeor Hospital, New Delhi,   Dr. PK Dave said, “Most of the patients had undergone multiple surgeries earlier and that made our tasks tough. Bullet and blast injuries severely affected their knees, elbows, and joints.  We performed surgeries and did joint replacements to provide them relief and a normal-active life.”

The patients from Yemen were brought to New Delhi as part of the bilateral relationships between India and UAE. The Indian government has issued a medical attendance visa for these patients which is valid for six months. The success of this mission could be attributed to the good relationship maintained by both countries.

The humanitarian initiative rolled out by the UAE government in association with UAE Red Crescent to avail of medical care to the wounded soldiers and civilians have come as a great relief to disillusioned people of Yemen.

CASES

Case 1. AS Hassen

Mr Abdullah Saleh Hassen, 21, came with complaint of stuck implant in Right Femur. For removal of the same he went to multiple hospitals in Yemen & also in other countries like Egypt but the implant could not be retrieved. In our set up, with specialized instrument, we were able to retrieve the implant from bone. Post-operatively patient was fine and very happy as we used minimal incision surgery technique. Patient was mobilize same day post operatively.

Case 2 – Ms Fatima Mohammad Ali Mohasen, 23,  Blast Injury

Ms Fatima Mohammad Ali Mohasen, 23, came to us with complaints of pain in left hip joint & left thigh since 8 years.She suffered a bomb blast injury 8 Yrs back. She was treated unsuccessfully at several places & underwent multiple surgical procedures but pain did not subside. She had multiple bony fragments in hip joint with bony impingement. In our setup she underwent hip surgery for her hip problem without undergoing hip joint replacement & she was painfree. We saved not only her hip joint but were also successful in removal of bony fragments. Recovery was remarkable, within  few days after surgery she was able to walk painfree and was discharged few days later with full recovery.

Case 3- Mr Yousuf Mohammed Ali 30- Bullet Injury

Mr Yousuf Mohammed Ali, 30, male came to us with weakness  and  deformity of right hand. It was his dominant hand and he was not able to perform his routine work with the hand. We examined him thoroughly and found that he had nerve injury as well. So we meticulously planned a procedure of tendon transfer (Zancolli Lasso Procedure) for him. We performed the surgery and put the patient on regular physiography. The results were amazing. After a month he was able to perform his routine work and used his right hand with much more functional efficiency.

Case 4- Abdullah Mahdi Saleh Mohammed 

Mr Abdullah Mahdi Saleh Mohammed,30, It was a follow up case of delayed union tibia with Left foot drop.Post injury patient had compound fracture both bone leg with foot drop. Patient had multiple surgeries done elsewhere. Presented to our hospital with complaints of pain, deformity and foot drop. Tibialization of the fibula was done elsewhere and fixed in rotation distally. On clinico-radiological evaluation, distal segment not united completely. Posterior tibial tendon was harvested, routed through anterior compartment of ankle and fixed with anchor suture at medial cuneiform bone. Patient is now able to walk without dropping of foot.