QRCS medical convoy a boon for Syrian refugees in Turkey

Qatar Red Crescent Society’s (QRCS) medical convoy to Turkey has completed its work there, performing major surgeries for Syrian refugees at SEVG Hospital in Reyhanli, a town on the Syria-Turkey border.
Funded by charity from donors in Qatar, the convoy was conducted in partnership with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
The medical team comprised six surgeons of urology, ENT and paediatric surgery. They performed 40 surgeries as well as examinations for 140 patients. In addition, they provided pre- and post-procedure medical care and medications free of charge, QRCS said.
In a statement, Dr Abdullah R al-Naimi, head of the delegation, QRCS board member and supervisor of the medical convoy programme, said: “Throughout the mission, we performed significant and sophisticated surgeries for complicated cases of war injuries. Thank God, all the procedures were successful.
“QRCS pays increasing attention to those who are suffering and desperate for surgical intervention, but they cannot afford the costs due to their financial restrictions. It is our duty to relieve their pain and present as much as we can.
“As physicians and specialists, we use the knowledge and experience we have to help those poor people. We are usually members of all QRCS’s medical convoys. Our sole aim is to treat patients and help them regain their normal lives.”
Dr al-Naimi thanked HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari and the HMC leadership for their constant support to QRCS’s medical convoys with medical staff, equipment and supplies.
“This is not something unusual for the government and people of Qatar, who are known for their generosity and sense of humanity” he noted.
Ammar al-Bashtani, father of a child, said: “I was injured in Eastern Ghouta due to air strikes. My injury was too bad to be treated in that besieged area, which lacked specialist physicians and facilities. Then, I was relocated to Turkey, where I found that the costs of surgery are too expensive. I had to suffer my non-stop pain until QRCS’s medical convoy came to the country. I would like to thank them for putting an end to my suffering. May God bless those who donated for this act of benevolence.”
Another medical convoy has already been deployed to Bangladesh to perform cardiac catheterisations for children with congenital heart defects. This is part of QRCS’s annual medical convoy programme, which covers several needy countries this year.