In 1997 the PCRF spearheaded a project
that set up the first and only pacemaker bank in the entire Middle East.
In cooperation with Heartbeat International of Central Florida, who is
donating new pacemakers to be provided free of charge to poor and indigent
patients who cannot pay, the PCRF has established a board of directors
in the Ramallah region where the surgeries are performed to administer
the bank. With the help of the Ramallah Rotary Club, the PCRF received
the first shipment of pacemakers from Florida last summer. In August, Ahmed
Al-Qadi, an elderly man the Rafah Refugee Camp in Gaza, had the first pacemaker
provided by the bank at Ramallah Hospital. The PCRF would like to send
a special thanks to Heatbeat International , as they set up pacemaker banks
all over the world and are helping save many lives. We are grateful to
have a chance to work with them in setting up the first and only pacemaker
bank in the Middle East.
