The UAE launched a free COVID rehabilitation program on Monday with the aim of helping patients to recover and manage the long-term effects of the disease. The first-of-its-kind online program in the Middle East was introduced by Arise UAE in partnership with RAK Hospital.

Significantly, around 30 percent of COVID-19 patients are experiencing long-term effects of the disease across the world. Patients are also experiencing debilitating after-effects of the disease which is hampering their ability to perform simple tasks in their daily lives. As per reports, these symptoms continue for three to nine months in several patients who got severely sick or were hospitalized due to COVID-19.

At the same time, there have been a few instances when asymptomatic patients are affected by these symptoms too. The most common lingering symptoms include cough, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, and chest pain, among others.

Therefore, the online program aims to help COVID-19 patients to get an instant overall health ‘prescription’ from a team of multidisciplinary experts at the Arabian Wellness and Lifestyle Management, RAK Hospital’s wellness division. During the program, a comprehensive questionnaire will be used to assess the symptoms among patients.

Explaining the program, Dr. Raza Siddiqui, executive director of RAK Hospital, noted that it is a structured one-stop-solution for COVID-19 patients for getting assistance for their problems.

“Although the information on COVID-19 is available online, it is scattered and fragmented. For the first time, we offer one structured program, or I can say a one-stop-shop where patients can log in and get the solution to most of their problems,” Dr. Siddiqui said.

He noted that people can simply log onto www.rakhospitalrehab.com to register for the program. After registering, they will undergo an online health scan, following which they will be provided with a health prescription tailored to their situation. In addition, there will be weekly webinars focused on guiding patients on various relevant issues they are facing in overcoming the symptoms of COVID-19.

"Physical appointments can also be booked by the individuals, should there be any such need. Nothing like this exists at the moment. Ours is the only initiative providing an integrated and holistic approach to COVID-19 recovery and rehabilitation, offered complimentary to all recovering patients," he added.

The program is manned by an online team of physicians, yoga specialists, nutritionists, psychologists, rehab experts, and physiotherapists, who will help in customizing solutions for the patients in order to ensure a fast recovery for them.

Professor Adrian Kennedy, chief wellness officer of Arabian Wellness and Lifestyle Management, has developed this state-of-the-art program with the help of his team within four to six weeks.

“RAK Hospital had introduced its physical post-COVID recovery rehabilitation program last year. However, we wanted to extend our reach to larger communities and wider geographies. Thus, to support the community in the comfort of their homes, we created our online COVID rehab product," Dr. Siddiqui noted.

Dr. Mahmoud Burai, chairman of UAE ARISE and senior advisor to the Dubai Government, stated that there was a need for working on a solution to help all members of the community tackle the struggles posed by the pandemic.

“COVID-19 being the biggest disaster of our time, needed our immediate attention. Therefore, we felt we needed to work on presenting a solution that can help the communities not only in this country but worldwide as well. The RAK Hospital team had the required know-how to carry our vision forward, hence the concept is now a reality," Dr. Burai said.

The virtual program was officially launched in the presence of Dr. Tariq Ahmed Nizami, Vice-Chairman of UAE Arise and founder and CEO of CEO Clubs Network Worldwide.