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Women in Healthcare Series |
February 2007
The Magic of a Healing Touch: Dr. Zulekha Daud,
Founder of the Zulekha Healthcare Group
By Debasree
S, Contributor
(ArabMedicare.com) "My strength lies in the overwhelming
need of the people of this country," says Dr. Zulekha Daud, perhaps
UAE's first woman doctor and the proprietor of one of the largest
private health networks, the Zulekha Healthcare Group.
In the early 1960's when she came on a deputation to UAE from the
American Mission Hospital in Kuwait, the country was a vast expanse of
desert without any electricity and even potable water and medical
facilities that used to be rudimentary to say the least, yet she stayed
on to serve the people.
"Those days, there was a crying need for qualified female
gynecologists who attend to deliveries, since UAE women loathed to be
treated by male doctors. There were no hospitals and I used travel from
door to door to deliver babies," reminisces Dr. Zulekha in a rare
interview with ArabMedicare.com. This soft-spoken and frail lady, now in
her late 60's evidently has an iron-will and a determination that belies
her age. Having delivered more than 15,000 deliveries till date, she
could easily be called one of the country's foremost women doctors.
"I had to brave hard times with just a bag and a few basic medical
amenities. There were no nurses or assistants. I just knew that the
women needed me, they came from faraway places and I could not fail
them. "However My biggest reward was when I saw these women
relieved of their anguish and holding their new-born in their arms.
Those were indeed my greatest moments of satisfaction."
There were many trials and tribulations -with the baby in a breach
position, a cord prolapsed, placenta previa etc, when the chances of
survival were difficult. "I knew I had very little facilities and
did my best under the difficult circumstances."
Once when a woman delivered a premature baby and Dr. Zulekha knew that
she had no means to keep her alive, she just tried lip-to-lip
resuscitation and breathed a prayer and a miracle happened -the baby
lived on and the parents brought the beautiful baby girl to show to Dr.
Zulekha year after year in an expression of their gratitude.
Her tireless service to the community did not go unrecognized. Within
three decades Dr. Zulekha, a qualified gynecologist, had generated so
much of goodwill within the community that she was the first expatriate
woman who was allowed by the Rulers to set up her own hospital in
Sharjah. In 1992 November, the Zulekha Hospital Sharjah was founded and
believed in her philosophy: "Beyond specialty, besides specialists,
there is something a bit more special...the magic of a healing
touch."
Dr. Zulekha has always held humane values very close to her heart and
being a woman has always helped her. "A woman's maternal instinct
of love and compassion is a vital ingredient to the healing
process," she says. And indeed a large part of the Zulekha hospital
culture relies on "humanizing and demystifying the complexities of
medical problems through patient education, a caring and thoughtful
environment."
When Dr. Zulekha decided to open the second Zulekha Hospital and the
first in Dubai in 2005, she was offered the land free of cost from the
Government of Dubai, as recognition of her service to the people of the
UAE. The 75-bedded multi-specialty hospital has since proved to be a
boon for the residents of Al Qusais, Al Nahda and Mirdiff.
"I have never worried about money. I knew that I had been entrusted
with a special responsibility and gave it my best. Everything else fell
into place," explains Dr. Zulekha. Today the Zulekha Healthcare
Group has 45 specialties, a team of more than 125 specialist doctors and
300 paramedical staff to show for itself. "At the Zulekha Hospital,
we treat out patients with concern, compassion and respect,"
explains Dr. Zulekha and her credo in life is expected to hold the group
in good stead as it embarks on an ambitious expansion plan across the
GCC countries.
Looking into the future with characteristic insight, Dr. Zulekha says:
"The private sector has developed very well in this country and now
our medical standards are comparable to that in Europe and other Western
countries. However the private and the public sector needs to create a
synergy for the benefit of the people."
Source: ArabMedicare.com
Posted 5/FEB/07
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Dr. Zulekha Daud, Founder
of the Zulekha Healthcare Group
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