Britain\u2019s senior most and respected Consultant Paediatrician, Prof Abdul Rashid Gatrad, OBE, has called on the Pakistan government to empower, with vocational training, the under-privileged children, aligning this to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSG). <\/p>\n
As CEO of Midland International Trust (MIAT), Prof Abdul Rashid Gatrad has raised over \u00a33 million for various health-related development projects around the world. He has built, with his colleagues, a state-of-the-art cleft hospital in Gujrat, Pakistan. The project was completed so professionally and was so impactful that ITV presented a 15-minute documentary on it. All services including operations are provided free, funded by mainly Muslim and Pakistani donors in the West Midlands.<\/p>\n
Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at three universities – University of Birmingham, Universities of Kentucky and Wolverhampton \u2013 he was awarded with the OBE from the Queen in 2002 for services to ethnic minority children in the Midlands. In 2014 he was made deputy Lieutenant to Her Majesty the Queen for his services. In the same year he was made Freeman of the Borough of Walsall for halving the death rate in new-born babies and for his part in the research into the Hepatitis Vaccine that was subsequently rolled out globally.<\/p>\n
Born originally in India but working in Pakistan, in 2003 Prof Gatrad met Mr Khwaja Mohammed Aslam, a Pakistani bus driver and a businessman, who was the chairman of Midland International Aid Trust UK (MIAT). He invited him in 2005 to be the CEO. Since then, the charity has made a huge difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands around the world \u2013 particularly children. At the time MIAT only had \u00a320,000 of working capital and Pakistan was the only country where humanitarian aid was provided. Since then, Rashid has devoted his time, effort, energy and money to make MIAT truly global \u2013 now in over 20 countries.<\/p>\n
Prof Abdul Rashid Gatrad, started as postman before becoming a doctor in 1971, largely financed through MIAT this- state of the art 3 storey hospital which houses, audiology, speech therapy, dental services 2 wards and 2 operating theatres. The hospital is supported by 4 doctors running round the clock operations and providing free medical aid to patients of the area, including those who travel from far and wide. The hospital grounds have playing facilities. Then it was in 2016 when during a visit to Gujrat that he met a female teenage street beggar on crutches. She had clubbed feet that were bare and bleeding. This led Dr Rashid Gatrad to setting up the clubfoot centre where now hundreds of kids are being treated from birth \u2013 avoiding operations when older.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI request the Government of Pakistan to vocationally train children and youth to empower them, especially girls. This will be good for Pakistan\u2019s long-term development. Currently, there is no focus on this area. We are prepared to work with Pakistan to support the effort. We have completed a huge maternity and a children\u2019s hospital named after my mother Jubaida in Gujrat, Pakistan which now is dedicated to cleft operations. This hospital is a demonstration of what can be achieved. Our charity goal is to reduce poverty and improve health outcomes from sustainable projects for thousands of the most disadvantaged populations in over 20 countries across Africa and Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cOver the last 15 years, in addition to the cleft and club foot centres we have set up in Pakistan a , a breast care service for women, an artificial limb fitting centre, which houses the club foot centre named after my father Mahomed Gatrad, cataract camps, hearing services for the new-born, dental services and an outreach clinic for elderly and pregnant women in Sooklan Gujrat.<\/p>\n
The doctor explained that through MIAT projects, he has arranged over 5000 cataract operations in Pakistan, Kashmir and Malawi; delivered over 500 cataract operations in Bangladesh; carried out 40 operations in Sierra Leone on teenage girls with vaginal fistula; delivered food provisions, fresh water and blankets to refugees in Syria, Jordon, Kenya and Lebanon; built a 3Km fresh water pipeline in a village in Somalia; built houses in Malawi in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan after the floods and supported vocational training projects in Sierra Leone, Malawi, Turkey, India, Kashmir and Pakistan.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cover the last 10 years I have been providing two \u2018Gatrad Bursaries\u2019 per year to doctors and nurses who travel abroad to train and teach.\u201d Professor Abdul Rashid Gatrad regularly travels to Gujrat to train and teach nurses in the care of new-born babies. He has trained more than 1200 nurses over the last 15 years and some of the nurses he trained now work in England and Europe in the medical profession.<\/p>\n
At 78 he is still full of enthusiasm to make a difference to the lives of the needy, Professor Abdul Rashid Gatrad plans to visit Pakistan again with a hope of meeting government officials to raise the profile for his charity\u2019s campaign for vocational education for some of the most downtrodden sections of the society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Britain\u2019s senior most and respected Consultant Paediatrician, Prof Abdul Rashid Gatrad, OBE, has called on the Pakistan government to empower, with vocational training, the under-privileged children, aligning this to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSG). As CEO of Midland International Trust (MIAT), Prof Abdul Rashid Gatrad has raised over \u00a33 million for various health-related […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[13376],"class_list":{"0":"post-406689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"tag-prof-abdul-rashid-gatrad"},"yoast_head":"\n