Hussain Dawood Pledge

The Hussain Dawood Pledge (HD-Pledge) is one of the biggest private donations and initiatives to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan.^[1] Hussain Dawood, on behalf of Engro, Dawood Hercules and his family pledged on 2 April 2020 a contribution in services, kind, and cash of Pakistani rupee (PKR) 1 billion (~6 million USD).^[2] The contribution became public a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the coronavirus relief fund to fight the pandemic and urged everyone to donate.^[3]

Purpose & Context

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in 2019 and the first proven case in Pakistan on 26th February 2020,^[4] the government initiated measures to prevent the spread. The HD-Pledge was started as an initiative to support various organisations active in the healthcare system and to support measures against the spread of COVID-19 to reduce the impact.^[2]

Targets

With the publication of the pledge, it was announced that the four key areas are:^[5]

• Disease prevention, with a major focus on testing and diagnostics.
• Protecting and enabling healthcare practitioners and other key workers, who are at the frontline of the fight against this pandemic.
• Enabling patient care and facilities; and
• Bolster livelihoods and sustenance of the most deserving in society.^[6]

Implementation

The HD-Pledge funds are disbursed primarily through The Dawood Foundation and Engro Foundation. The pledge management, a dedicated committee composed of leadership figures of Mr. Dawood's business enterprises and associated philanthropic foundations headed by Sabrina Dawood, developed the overarching strategy and is assessing applications for funds according to the criteria of sustainable impact and saving lives.^[7]

The funds are open to any credible organisation, whether public and private hospitals, NGO, private enterprises, or foundations, who can apply.^{[citation needed]}

Achievements

To date (August 2021), PKR 497,870,000 or almost 49% of the fund of the HD-Pledge have been donated via cash and kind.^[8]

Some selected examples of how this amount was donated:

• PKR 28 million contribution to the Patients' Aid Foundation for the procurement of 14,000 medical grade scrubs to protect medical staff against the rising incidence of COVID-19 in Karachi.^[9]
• PKR 70 million contribution to the Ehsaas Amdan Program focused on smallholder farmers in the livestock sector in collaboration with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) as the implementing partner.^[10]
• PKR 20 million in financial assistance to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre to expand COVID-19 testing capacity across Southern Punjab and strengthen the health sector to cope with the ongoing pandemic (April 2020).^[11]
• PKR 40 million to extend the partnership with Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre for expansion of COVID-19 testing capacity in Southern Punjab (June 2020).^[12]
• PKR 79.5 million contribution to a collaborative project with Aga Khan University to build the capacity of frontline healthcare professionals to manage COVID-19 patients across the country.^[13]
• PKR 18.7 million for the establishment of a High Dependency Unit (HDU) at the Indus Hospital, Karachi, to enhance COVID-19 patient care and facilities.^[14]
• PKR 12 million committed to establish an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Nishtar Medical University & Hospital, Multan. This included the set up and operationalisation of a 20-bed dedicated HDU with medical equipment.^[15]
• 459,000 units of personal protective equipment (PPE) worth Rs100 million for front-line healthcare practitioners treating COVID-19 patients.^[16]
• Support Sehat Kahani by adding 100 more doctors to the telemedicine app to facilitate a greater number of virtual consultations.^[17]
• PKR 95 million to the Indus Hospital to expand the COVID-19 testing capacity across Sindh under the Sindh Screening Programme — Free of Cost.^[18]
• PKR 7,9 million to promote mental health-support among frontline workers and the general population directly affected by COVID-19 pandemic together with the British Asian Trust and IRD Pakistan.^[19]

Partners

The following entities have partnered with the HD-Pledge (as of August 2021).^{[citation needed]}

Partners on Disease Prevention

• Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre
• Indus Hospital and Health Network

Partners in Enabling Healthcare practitioners

• Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad
• Allied Hospital, Faisalabad
• DHQ Hospital, Faisalabad
• Government General Hospital Ghulam Muhammad Abad, Faisalabad
• British Asian Trust & IRD Pakistan
• Layton Rahmatullah Benevolent Trust
• Afzaal Memorial Thalassemia Foundation
• National Disaster Management Authority
• Pakistan Air Force
• Liaquat National Hospital
• Dow University, Ojha Campus
• Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan
• Fatima Jinnah General Hospital, Quetta

Partners in Enabling Patient Care

• Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Hospital, Gujrat
• Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan
• Nishtar Hospital, Multan
• Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar
• Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi
• Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Accident Emergency & Trauma Centre, Karachi
• Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi
• Sindh Govt Coronavirus Emergency Fund
• Sehat Kahani

Partner in Bolstering livelihoods & sustenance

• Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Ehsaas Amdan Program

References

Further reading

• Pakistan's Response to COVID-19: Overcoming National and International Hypes to Fight the Pandemic, JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021 May; 7(5): e28517. Published online 2021 May 19. doi: 10.2196/28517