MAKING A DIFFERENCE
For Those in Need of Critical Health Support MedGlobal works to help displaced populations and those struggling to attain health care BY RABIYAH SYED
Dr. Zaher Sahloul (center)
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n this era of social media and networking, global awareness of social and political injustice, war crimes and genocides have increased to a level never seen before in history. By the end of 2019, according to the UN, 79.5 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide — the majority of them from Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela. Numerous refugees have been displaced as a result of man-made disasters. The Rohingya Muslims, who have fled their homeland during the last three years, constitute a significant refugee population. Refugees are a forgotten community that have long suffered from food shortages,
unhygienic conditions, human trafficking and exploitation, as well as the lack of access to healthcare. This nonprofit organization, which helps these marginalized populations and works to curtail inequality wherever it is found, was founded by the world-renowned humanitarian Dr. Zaher Sahloul. A critical care specialist at Advocate Christ Medical and the Center and Saint Anthony’s Hospital, Sahloul has received the Gandhi Award for Peace, as well as the “Heroes Among Us” and other awards. He is also an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois (Chicago).
40 ISLAMIC HORIZONS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
MedGlobal was founded in 2017 after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled their country’s officially sanctioned violence and sought refuge in Bangladesh. As Sahloul explains, they began by “recruit[ing] doctors and nurses from different parts of the world, from places like the U.S., Canada, U.K, Australia. Every week, we sent 2 or 3 doctors or nurses.” Efforts are currently being focused on Gaza, Greece, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan, Venezuela, Colombia and Yemen. Sahloul states that the vision of MedGlobal, which is funded by donations only, is “to reduce healthcare inequality by building
