Students at WCMC-Q set up the Global Health Club to reach out to Qatar’s Unskilled Migrant Workforce

WCMC-Q’s finest students have set up the Global Health Club (GHC) with a remit to raise awareness among students of global health issues and to promote participation in health care programs aimed at delivering solutions, reflecting the pioneering spirit of Qatar and the philanthropic aspirations of WCMC-Q and the Qatar Foundation

Modest, diminutive and clearly very bright, Marwa Saleh, a third year med student, is keen to emphasize she has been helped in this endeavor by others in WCMC-Q who share her concerns.  ‘It’s important to understand that it’s not me alone doing this. Others in the class have been very involved and so have the faculty and other staff members at WCMC-Q, it’s a team effort.’

Among the ‘others’ Saleh is referring to are Rahima Sanya and Maryam Ayaz, also third year med students, who have been instrumental in organizing dinners for migrant workers, handing out food and clothes in impoverished areas and visiting the children’s ward in hospitals to hand out games and toys.

“The faculty here have been very generous. We have literally knocked on office doors and asked for support for these events and they have always obliged,” says Saleh. The students have also received a great deal of support and guidance from Sohaila Cheema, Manager of Global Public Health.

The Global Health Club (GHC) was created with the support of Dr. Ravinder Mamtani, Associate Dean for Global and Public Health.  It was based on the Student Volunteer Group (SVG) set up in 2008 by Saleh and other students with an aim to create a database of opportunities for students to get involved with charity drives and generally lend a hand.

This was well received among the students who wanted to do more to help others and they could see the benefits of extra curriculum activities, explains Saleh. “We worked with Breast Cancer Awareness Campaigns and raised funds for the Think Pink Qatar organization that first year.”

The group also got involved in an area of health that mostly affects poorer members of the population, TB. With the support of a Qatar National Research Fund Undergraduate Research Experience Program grant and in conjunction with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) the students began a study to ascertain how long migrant workers with the disease go undetected and to document their experience of living with it.

“The point is to survey the wider community of migrant workers to identify factors which might delay them seeking treatment. This can be for cultural reasons and also because they may not understand the disease itself,” says Saleh.

Apart from the collaborative research project, members of the GHC are involved in a social outreach capacity with patients at HMC’s TB clinic, bringing some light relief in the form of games and activities and also to educate them about the risks of TB so that they may also educate others in their community.

Another important aim of the GHC is to educate as many students as possible on critical global health issues. They have organized a series of lectures on subjects as diverse as medical conditions in Haiti, fistula repair in Ethiopia and the impact of the floods in Pakistan on healthcare. 

These successful seminars have been held in collaboration with leading physicians such as Dr. Arash Tabrizi, assistant professor of genetic medicine in obstetrics and gynecology at WCMC-Q, Dr. Estomih Mtui, associate professor of anatomy in cell and developmental biology at WCMC –NY as well as high profile organizations such as Qatar Red Crescent.

“Going forward the GHC intend to grow these lectures to ensure more students are able to attend and to spread the message that as medical students we have a duty of care to ensure global health issues are addressed,”Saleh said.

Other initiatives include working collaboratively with other health care providers to run health clinics for migrant workers and fundraising events with Qatar Red Crescent for their emergency efforts worldwide. “We also plan to organize events to highlight international health days such as Woman’s Day, AIDS and World Mental Health Day,” said Saleh.

“Global health is ultimately about ensuring that people around the world have equal access and availability of quality health care regardless of their social and economic status. We are glad that our students are participating in this process”, said Dr. Mamtani.