In a major development in the ongoing battle against COVID-19, the construction of the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Field Hospital near Darfur in Sudan has been completed. The inauguration ceremony of the hospital saw the presence of a Sudanese delegation led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Deputy Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, and Malik Agar, a member of the Council. At the same time, Ministers of Federal Government and Social Welfare, the Undersecretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, and UAE Ambassador to Sudan Hamad Mohamad Al Jenaibi, along with a delegation from Italy were also present at the inauguration ceremony.

Built across 3,800 sq/m, the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Field Hospital is established to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus and mitigating the pandemic impact in Sudan.

The hospital is equipped with 48 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 160 isolation beds, along with a host of facilities including an outpatient clinic, laboratory, pharmacy, and staff accommodation for 70. With a lifespan of more than 25 years, the field hospital can be converted to a regular hospital after overcoming the pandemic. This allows the hospital to provide healthcare services to approximately 2 million who can come from all parts of Sudan to Darfur for their medical needs.

Speaking during the inauguration, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Deputy Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, said that the authorities have been working to develop a hospital with the capacity and resources to treat all people in need ever since the beginning of the efforts to combat the COVID-19 crisis.

"An increase in hospitalizations has meant we needed additional capacity and we have done just that," he added.

He further hailed the strong support from the UAE and the partnership of the team of local and international experts that helped in establishing the field hospital in record time. General Mohamed affirmed that the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Field Hospital will provide the right resources to the medical staff and help in better placing the country globally in its response to the rise in COVID-19 cases.

Tamouh Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Abdulla Al Rashdi also expressed appreciation to be at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19 by supporting testing needs and assisting in the development of healthcare and vaccine facilities both in the UAE and internationally.

"This field hospital will make a significant difference to the local Sudanese community which has been deeply affected and demonstrates how effective partnerships between government and private sector entities can be in implementing a successful humanitarian response to COVID-19 and beyond," Al Rashdi added.

Hamad Mohamad Al Jenaibi, UAE Ambassador to Sudan, extended UAE's keenness in supporting those countries which are affected by COVID-19. He underlined UAE's efforts to deploy a team of professionals to build the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Field Hospital which ensured its completion in record time due to the modular container design used in the field.

"This will make a significant difference to the local Sudanese community and we are thankful to both our local partners, led by UAE AID, Tamouh Healthcare and Sudan’s Dal Group, for their support," Al Jenaibi added.

The group of UAE-based partners that helped in the development of the hospital includes building contractor Prime Project International and Tamouh Healthcare-which developed the concept for Containerized Aid for Respiratory Emergencies (CARE). They worked with Sudan’s local partner, Dal Group, and Creative Python to support the Sudanese government in erecting the field hospital in record time.

CARE or Re’ayah, which means ‘care’, seeks to convert modular 40ft containers into fully equipped medical field hospitals. The economical design is assembled on the site which helps in a quick build in just 50 days and delivers a durable and necessary resource. Significantly, these repurposed shipping containers can be sent to developing countries having a shortage of ICU beds to treat the patients amid surging cases.

Along with the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Field Hospital, a number of COVID-19 field hospitals have been established by UAE's AID, including a hospital built in the Guinean capital of Conakry in late 2020 and one in Jordan in January 2021. At the same time, two new field hospitals are under construction Mauritania and Sierra Leone.

WAM