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.

Dr Ahmed Albanna, UAE Ambassdor to India said, “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.”

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

Dr.Shamsheer Vayalil, Chairman and Managing Director of VPS Healthcare said, “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.”

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.

“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 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.