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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Generosity that touches the heart
By Amer Sultan
A team of 17 British surgeons headed by world-renowned Egyptian heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub will arrive in Cairo on Monday to perform a series of open-heart surgeries free of charge for children of low-income families. The wife of the Egyptian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Heba El-Gazzar, held a reception on Tuesday at the Egyptian Embassy in London on the occasion of Yacoub's upcoming visit.
The event was held under the auspices of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak -- who is expecting to pay a visit to London in the coming months -- with the aim of rallying international support for her efforts in promoting the welfare of Egyptian children. A fund-raising auction was held during the reception to benefit the Society for the Care of Egyptian Children with Special Needs, established in the UK last February during Mrs Mubarak's visit to London.
Yacoub and his team of surgeons will perform the operations as part of the humanitarian work of the charity foundation initiated by Yacoub in 1995. The charity -- Chain of Hope UK -- is a satellite of the mother foundation, set up in Paris in 1988. The UK branch brings less-affluent children from countries with limited medical resources to London to undergo much-needed surgery.
According to Emma Scanlan, executive director of the UK charity, three children are brought to London every month for free medical treatment. Scanlan said that the team will be spending four days in Egypt, during which they will operate on around 20 children in Abul- Reesh Children's Hospital and the New Kasr Al-Aini Hospital. Among those receiving medical care will be Palestinian children transported to Egypt by the Egyptian government.
In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly during the reception, Yacoub expressed his hopes of receiving the support from Egyptian businessmen that would enable his team to travel and perform more operations on needy children in Egypt. "Please help us to save the lives of children and protect the future," he said, appealing to the financially-able citizens of Egypt.
According to Scanlan, Yacoub and his team could repeat their visits to Egypt if they could secure the necessary financing. She added that although members of the charity and the surgical team are volunteers, funds are still needed for costly medical supplies and operation and travel expenses.
Yacoub expressed his hopes for further cooperation between Chain of Hope UK and the Society for the Care of Egyptian Children with Special Needs, where he heads the trustees committee. Yacoub said that thanks to the efforts shared between the two organisations, and the goals set by Mrs Mubarak, a number of Egyptian children have been treated in the UK during the past year.
Yacoub has built up perhaps the most prestigious heart transplant team in the world at London's Harefield Hospital. More than just a surgeon, Yacoub believes in promoting preventive medicine and training younger surgeons to continue the research that will pioneer innovative and life-saving surgical techniques.
The auction's proceeds came up to £20,000, half of which was donated by a Lebanese businessman and £5,000 by Egyptian tycoon Mohamed El-Fayed. According to Mrs El-Gazzar, the money raised will go to the campaign of saving the hearts of Egyptian children by funding the medical team's trip to Cairo. According to Scanlan, the cost of sending a medical team on one trip abroad is roughly £39,000, while medical care for one child in the UK can reach £5,000.
Under the patronage of Mrs Mubarak, Cairo will host the 27th International Conference of the Egyptian Society for Cardiac Medicine this week. Yacoub will be among 400 international experts attending the five-day conference, which begins on 21 February. During the conference -- to be inaugurated by Health Minister Ismail Sallam -- world-celebrated medical professionals will discuss important research on cardiac diseases and surgeries. The conference will identify means of treatment for cardiac diseases in the third millennium, as well as probe the use of genetic engineering instead of open-heart surgery.
The Chain of Hope UK can be reached at: South Parade, Chelsea London SW36NP Tel: 00441713511978 Fax: 00441713521198
Additional reporting by Dahlia Hammouda
