How Dubai is winning hearts of the elderly during crisis
SECURE TOGETHER CAMPAIGN EXTENDS HELP TO SENIOR RESIDENTS IN NEED
ABritish expatriate, Solly Wolf (71) living in Dubai, was pleasantly surprised when he got a call from the Dubai Police early one April morning. “I am retired and live alone. Until the call, I had been at my wit’s end trying to figure out ways to replenish my fast depleting medicines during the Covid-19 stay-in. I take nearly 16 medications, some of them very expensive. I take injections worth Dh700 as I suffer from a variety of ailments. I was afraid to go to my doctor as I did not want to risk any exposure.
“The police traced my number and politely asked me if I needed anything. When I told them about my medicines, they took down my list and dropped me a month of supplies absolutely free-of-charge. I was so pleasantly surprised that the Dubai Police and the Community Development Authority (CDA) thought of helping out seniors like me in this time of crisis,” said Wolf who has chosen to live in the UAE even after retiring from business.
Jashmid Rohrowan (61) and his wife, both Iranian expatriates, were stuck without groceries when the movement restrictions were announced.
“My niece told me about the Secure Together initiative, I called them and they dropped a lot of grocery supplies — vegetables, rice, pasta, flour…. to last us for a few weeks,” said Rohrowan, who recently retired from the Dubai Ambulance Corporation Services (DCAS). “The supplies helped us tide over the initial crisis as we live alone.”
Humanitarian gesture
Going beyond the purview of law and order, on March 30, Dubai Police in conjunction with the CDA launched the Secure Together campaign to reach out to the elderly, special needs and destitute people in these difficult times of dealing with the pandemic. The programme, which was initially aimed at helping out members of the Emirati community, was extended to senior expatriate residents as well.
Kinds of support
The campaign has been so successful that until May 13, 9,532 seniors were helped. Of these, 5,642 were expatriate residents above 60 and 3,890 were Emiratis. Help provided included supplying food, groceries, medicines, hand sanitisers, extending psychological support and even taking some citizens for Covid-19 testing.
Commenting on the success of the ongoing initiative, Colonel Turki Abdur Rahman Bin Faris, Director of Command and Control Centre at the General Department of Operations in Dubai Police, said “Secure Together” is an implementation of the directives of Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Merri, the Commander-inchief of Dubai Police, who directed the force to provide full care to senior citizens and residents in Dubai as part of the efforts to support the nationwide campaign #stayhome.”
Database of the elderly
He further remarked that the Dubai Police has been developing an updated database of places of the elderly to enhance the authorities in urgent requests or emergencies, as well as providing them with moral support and genuine care.
Commenting on the humanitarian collaboration, Huraiz Al Mur Bin Huraiz, CEO of the Social Care and Development Sector, CDA, said: “To date, the Secure Together campaign has received overwhelming response, attracting key contributions from both the public and private sectors.”