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‘One World: Together at Home’ shows Emirati doctors abroad who chose to fight COVID-19 instead of going home

Emirati doctors based abroad shared their experiences in fighting at the front lines against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) instead of going home to safety with their loved ones in the UAE in the six-hour cross-platform global special ‘One World: Together at Home.’
The global special, which began on April 18, includes the day-to-day struggle of Emirati doctors Dr. Ajlan Al Zaki and Dr. Aysha Al Mentheri in fighting the pandemic, devoting long hours of work to treat COVID-19 patients amid the crisis facing the USA and France—two of the countries with the most number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world.
Risking lives to save others
Dr. Al Zaki, an internal medicine resident at Stanford University hospital said that even though he knows that the UAE is the safest place for him and his family, he knew he could not abandon his patients and medical colleagues “during a time when doctors are needed the most.”
“As I saw my fellow Emiratis go back home, I knew that the UAE is the safest place for my family and myself. However, I was torn because I could not simply abandon my patients and medical colleagues. I knew that this would be a sacrifice I have to make for my careers when I became a doctor and took that Hippocratic oath,” he said.
Gynecology and Obstetrics Specialist in Bichat University Hospital in Paris—the first hospital in France to admit COVID-19 patients—Dr. Al Mentheri, meanwhile, said that she chose to stay because it’s part of her value as a medical worker to serve the humanity.
She is currently devoting her medical skills ring to save pregnant women and children in France who are infected with the disease,
“When the pandemic of COVID-19 started to spread in Europe, I had the option to come back home, but I preferred to stay here in the frontline in France with my colleagues to fight this disease. Because it’s part of our value in medicine to serve the humanity,” she said. “Humanity is our common language.”
A historical event from home
‘One World: Together at Home’ is an event launched by Global Citizens and features some of the world’s leading artists and personalities including Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfery, Matthew Mcconaughey, Formula One Champion Lewis Hamilton, Andrea Bocelli, John Legend, David Beckham, Celine Dion, Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, and Usher. The global special, co-hosted by Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel of Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Stephen Colbert of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, uses music and advocacy to show support for COVID-19 patients and health workers around the world.
Representing the UAE and the Arab world is Emirati star Hussain Al Jassmi, who will perform some of the hits including the latest track “Benaady” (which means ‘this will pass’), a song that sends messages of hope and unity against the crisis.
The event is being broadcasted on BBC, ABC, NBC and CBS, and streamed on Amazon Prime, Apple, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at 10pm UAE timing. Viewers from the UAE, meanwhile, can watch on their Dubai TV channels and digital platforms.

Staff Report

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