سودانى بدبى منذ August 13, 2004 بالمستشفى و اسرته ترفض نقله الى بيته او زيارته

Dear Bakri

Assalamo Alaikom WA Rahmato Allah

First let me congratulate you and I would like here to extend to you my respect and admiration for the professional job you are doing .Am very much sure that with your expertise and professionalism , you will survive the current battle because bottom line is that [big Trees Resists the Strongest Cyclone ].Just have a look at the news despite this recent terrible cyclone in Bangladesh , the big trees are standing still and they are the people’s shelter .So please carry on the fine pretty job and more power .

While reviewing the news from the Dubai based news paper Gulf News , the issue of the 14th Nov , 2007 , I came a cross an article that really shocked me .Am attaching with this message the same article for your perusal and I hope that you will find a place to take care of it because aside from the humanitarian issue, it’s a real ugly case .All those past years from the time Sudanese people started working in this region , people are used to say that the Sudanese are the nationality who are really having the strongest family ties among all the hundreds of nationalities working here but it seems to me that this is no more the case and it’s a big shame .

I do not want to take much of your time am sure you are handling hundreds of messages .The number of this hospital here in Dubai is +971 4 3371111 if you need any further clarification .

Thanks very much and best regards

Yousif Sulaiman



Bedridden, lonely and abandoned by relatives to spend life in hospital

From page 1

Families turn their backs on more than 30 men who have been left to the care of medical staff

BY NINA MUSLIM AND SUNITA MENON Staff Reporters Dubai

For 32 men, Rashid Hospital has become a second home, some spending as long as three years as their families refuse to help them get back home.

Case Management Section staff at the hospital told Gulf News these cases primarily involved men who have been permanently injured or brain damaged with no one to take care of them.

“All are bedridden. We have one man from Sudan, whose family refused to take him. He has been here since August 13, 2004. He just completed 1,359 days here,” said Aisha Saeed Al Kindi, head of case management section at Rashid Hospital.

She said the 77-year-old man suffered a stroke, leaving him debilitated. Over the years, he has deteriorated, developing dementia likely brought on by depression, bitterness and loneliness.

However, there is hope. After much negotiation, Aisha said the section managed to convince his family in Dubai and Al Ain to take him home within a week, by forgiving his Dh164,000 hospital bill, not including medicine and treatment.

Dr Lama Yousuf Al Ramahi, clinical coordinator for the hospital, said despite their best efforts, the hospital receives cases of permanently injured people abandoned by their family and society.

“We have five fresh cases we expect to be stuck here. We know from the nature of their injuries (and lack of support) that they will be here for a long time," she said.

Most of the severely injured and brain-damaged patients are expatriates. However, a majority of abandoned elderly in the hospital are UAE nationals. Aisha said the families of the abandoned UAE nationals regarded them as a burden.

“In one case, the family refused to take care of the father. The son told us, ‘I don’t want him. If you can’t take care of him, throw him out in the dustbin’. (But) they still take his Dh9,000 pension,” she said.

Guidance

Dr Lama nodded in agreement. “We hear that from many sons and daughters,” she said, adding the lack of support system for the elderly in Dubai contributed to the problem.

She said the section was trying to lower the number of abandoned elderly, by training and guiding family members on how to take care of their elderly relatives.

The legal department at the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms), which runs Rashid Hospital, is also trying to propose a law to address the issue of abandonment.

“But it is still early,” she said. For now, the section is concentrating on the case of a 37-year-old Uzbek man, who sustained severe brain damage after being run down by a car while crossing the street in 2005. He can only open and shut his eyes, and is unable to communicate. Although the sponsor of the man, who used to work as interior decorator, was willing to pay for his repatriation, the problem was geographical.

“His village is in a very isolated area in Uzbekistan. No cars can get to it. There is no consulate here that can help him,” Dr Lama said.

However, they are not giving up although they admitted that helping get these people home took its toll on them at times.

“Sometimes, we cry. Sometimes, we get really angry. But we have to help them,” Dr Lama said.