Sheikha Fatima Field Hospital for Women and Children opens in Sudan

Wedad Babiker, Chairperson of the Sanad Charity Foundation and wife of the Sudanese President, has inaugurated the 'Sheikha Fatima Field Hospital for Women and Children' in Sudan.

The hospital is part of an initiative launched by H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, GWU, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, FDF. It aims to provide the best treatment, diagnostic, preventive and surgical services for women and children in Sudan and the rest of Africa, under the supervision of volunteer doctors from the UAE and Sudan.

The launch of the hospital, under the slogan, "We are all our Mother Fatima," is part of the Fatima bint Mubarak Volunteering Programme, and is a joint initiative between the Zayed Giving Initiative, the GWU and the Sanad Charity Foundation, in partnership with the Dar Al Ber Society, Sharjah Charity House and the Saudi-German Hospitals Group.

It is also an innovative partnership in the specialist area of humanitarian medical action, which aims to find realistic medical solutions and help ease the pain and suffering of women and children, in line with the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The ceremony was attended by Hamad Mohammed Humaid Al Junaibi, UAE Ambassador to Sudan, a GWU delegation, Dr. Adel Al Shameri, CEO of the Zayed Giving Initiative and President of UAE Doctors, and several Sudanese officials and doctors.

The hospital represents progress in providing community health services through field and mobile medical services, and is equipped with the latest medical supplies, including reception, emergency, ICU and lab units, as well as a pharmacy.

Babiker welcomed the GWU delegation and praised the efforts of Sheikha Fatima to support international humanitarian initiatives, programmes and projects, as well as to reduce the suffering of patients around the world.

During her welcome of the GWU delegation after the inauguration, Babiker conveyed messages of love from women and mothers working in the health and humanitarian sectors to Sheikha Fatima while praising her support for various humanitarian projects, not only in the UAE and Sudan but also around the world, which has made her a role model of social giving.

Babiker said that Sheikha Fatima’s initiative to promote women’s and children’s empowerment is the first of its kind in the world, and reflects her endless giving and support for initiatives that target Arab women and aim to organise treatment, surgical, training and scientific programmes in the areas of childhood and motherhood for vulnerable patients around the world, through a specialist humanitarian field hospital that is fully equipped with medical supplies and equipment, as per the best international standards.

She also highlighted the close bilateral ties between the UAE and Sudan, whose foundations were established by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and were continued by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan.

Noura Al Suwaidi, Director of the GWU, stated that the field hospital and its mobile clinics are part of the Sheikha Fatima International Humanitarian Campaign, which aims to treat women and children around the world, in co-ordination with government, non-government and non-profit institutions, and in line with the UAE’s journey of giving of humanitarian volunteer work, whose legacy was established by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and followed by the wise leadership, led by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa, and the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who are keen to promote the culture of volunteer work and humanitarian giving.

She added that the hospital, whose humanitarian missions in Africa started in Sudan, aims to provide the best diagnostic, treatment and preventive services to women and children and ease their suffering.

Al Suwaidi further added that the launch of the hospital, in co-ordination with the Sanad Charity Foundation and the Sudanese Ministry of Health, took place after completing the required administrative procedures and technical preparations to receive patients, as per the working team’s plan to provide the best free diagnostic, treatment and preventive services, under the supervision of specialist volunteer doctors.

The free medical services provided by the volunteer medical teams and the mobile field hospital will achieve progress in community medical action in various Sudanese villages, she stressed.

Al Junaibi praised the strategic ties between the UAE and Sudan and added that Sheikha Fatima’s humanitarian initiative will continue for a period of one year in Sudan, with the possibility of being extended while highlighting the ongoing overall co-operation and partnerships between the two countries.

Dr. Al Shameri stated that the hospital is equipped with an intensive care unit, specialist clinics and a lab that provides services for women and children while noting that during its first day, it has provided realistic solutions to health problems that affect women and children and received two thousand patients.

He added that four teams are supervising the hospital and its mobile clinics, who will train local personnel to manage clinics and hospitals in the future.

Masher Al Dawlab, Minister of Insurance and Social Development of Sudan, praised the humanitarian role of the UAE government and people while highlighting the deep bilateral ties between the two countries and added that while the field hospital has started operating in Khartoum it will also reach out to other areas of Sudan and other African countries.

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