Dubai/India: 30 years is not much of a time for a charitable business. But Aster DM Healthcare’s journey so far is paved with milestones of a life time. So, when on December 11, 2017, it celebrated its 30th birth day, it undeniably stood taller than its years.
It was a well deserved gala for it was a culmination of a year of giving back initiatives and drew veritable who’s who of UAE.
Quality and compassion have always been the defining mores through these years. Starting from a single clinic in Dubai three decades ago, its architect and chairman suave Dr Azad Moopen straddles across healthcare scene in UAE and India like a colossus. The benign NRI health honcho (keralite) Dr Moopen now presides over the conglomerate that spans across 9 countries operating 316 establishments.
The event also brought to light the social responsibility initiatives and programmes, under the Aster Volunteers umbrella that benefited more than 497,000 lives in the Middle East and India.
The Gala dinner at the Grand Hyatt Dubai welcomed a line-up of government officials and VIPs including HE Dr Amin Al Amiri, Asst Under Secretary (Ministry of Health UAE); Dr Marwan Mohd Saleh Al Mulla, Director of Health Regulation (DHA); HE Mohammed Sharaf, Asst Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation for Economic & Trade Affairs; HE Sheikh Salem Abdulrahman Al Qassimi, Chairman of Sharjah Rulers Court; HE Dr Rashid Al Leem, Chairman of Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA); HE Vipul, Consul General of India to Dubai; HE Mohammed Juma Al Naboodah, Group Executive Chairman of Al Naboodah Group; HE Jamal Majid Khalfan Bin Thaniyah, Chairman of JMBT Group; Mr Shamsudheen Bin Mohideen, Chairman of Regency Group; Mr Yusuff Ali M A, Chairman & Managing Director of Lulu Group; Mr Anoop Moopen, Director of Aster DM Healthcare and others. The evening featured a number of cultural and entertainment activities.
Addressing guests, Dr. Moopen said, ‘During our silver jubilee celebration in 2012, I stood before you and made the commitment to expand our operations to more than 300 institutions. 5 years on, we now operate 316 establishments, with 18,174 employees around the world. Our forward-looking vision will continue to focus on providing accessible and affordable quality healthcare to our patients under our brand promise of ‘We’ll Treat You Well’.
To mark occasion, Dr Moopen announced five key initiatives in the field of health care in the UAE and GCC. These included celebrating its employees, caring for their health, their wellness, felicitating them and focusing on the expansion of the Aster Volunteers’ programme, as a way of giving back to the community.
Standing as a key pillar of the Aster@30 campaign, the Aster Volunteers programme that launched earlier this year saw numerous initiatives in the region and India. These initiatives included Basic Life Support training programme that trained more than 104,600 people in the GCC and India, training them on first responder techniques that are useful in case of emergencies such as heart attacks and choking. Under the Aster Volunteers Programme, Aster also recruited 66 differently-abled employees into the Aster workforce in addition to providing free surgeries and investigation to over 11,355 patients in the GCC and India.
The Aster Volunteers Programme also reached out to disaster-affected communities providing food supplies to refugees in Somalia and the Rohingya Refugee camp in Bangladesh. Aster also provided free healthcare services to Syrian refugees in Zaatari, Azraq and Erbid in Jordan. In addition, free medical screenings were also performed on 45,000 people in UAE and other geographies in GCC, India and Philippines.
