KARACHI: The Dawood Foundation (DF) — the charitable arm of the Dawood Hercules Group — has announced a collaborative project with the Aga Khan University (AKU) to build the capacity of front-line healthcare professionals to manage Covid-19 patients across Pakistan.

The foundation will be contributing Rs79.5 million to the project to be executed in two phases in coordination with the ministry of national health services, regulation and coordination.

In the first phase, 5,000 physicians, nurses and paramedical staff will receive online training in the management of moderate-to-critical Covid-19 patients across the country.

In the second phase, the AKU will provide on-site training to 500 healthcare professionals to build capacity in their respective institutions, in relevant areas of Covid-19 treatment and beyond.

The partnership will also see the AKU operate a tele-consultation service for healthcare professionals aiming to enhance the treatment of over 16,000 hospitalised patients.

CEO DF Sabrina Dawood said, “We are pleased to partner with the AKU for this innovative and sustainable programme that will improve lives across Pakistan. By creating a Covid-19 Health Provider Network and enabling teleconsultation services in underserved areas of the country, this project can potentially reform critical care delivery at the national level.”

The foundation is involved in this project as part of the Rs1bn pledge made by Hussain Dawood, the chairman of the Engro Corporation and Dawood Hercules Corporation.

The pledge is extending Covid-19 relief efforts in the four focus areas of disease prevention, protecting and enabling healthcare practitioners and other key workers, enabling patient care and facilities, and bolstering livelihoods and sustenance of the most deserving in society.

“We consider it our duty to stand up and be counted in the nation’s hour of need,” said AKU Medical College dean Dr Adil Haider. “This partnership will add momentum to the national response by providing healthcare workers with the advanced knowledge and skills needed to treat hospitalised Covid-19 patients.”

The university is already providing free tele-consultations to healthcare workers treating critically ill Covid-19 patients, with the support of the ministry of health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

It has also run a range of courses for front-line healthcare workers, in partnership with the Sindh government, on key aspects of critical care medicine.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2020