Medecins Sans Frontires to participate in Dubai Marathon to raise funds
United Arab Emirates, Culture, 1/10/2002

In an effort to raise funds for populations in danger, Medecins Sans Frontires (MSF), the international medical relief organization, will be participating in the Dubai Marathon to be held (January 11,2002) at the Dubai World Trade Centre. A team of 61 people have been selected by MSF to tackle the 10 km marathon, with one runner registered for the 42 km marathon. All the runners have pledged to run in aid of MSF's work and are being sponsored by their colleagues, families and companies

"Due to interest shown during last year"s marathon, we have decided to put together a team of runners. Several companies have also contacted us and offered to run in aid of MSF," said Tarek Daher, MSF Representative in the UAE. "Moreover running is a healthy habit and running for a worthy cause is indeed much more fulfilling. All sponsorship money will go toward one of our 240 missions across the world," he added.

"I have never run a Marathon before, but have been training for almost six months now," said Renato T.Avila, team leader at DHL and the 42 km marathon runner. "As an MSF volunteer, I truly appreciate the tremendously positive results the MSF staff achieve with needy people. This is why I have chosen to run in aid of MSF and to donate Dhs 5 per km. My colleagues, friends and family have also pledged to sponsor me," he added.

MSF's official partner DHL has agreed to support Renato T. Avila, the 42 km marathon runner, by donating Dhs 100 per km to MSF as well as 100 t-shirts for the event. DHL has also promised to provide 9 vans to distribute water.

MSF commences operations when it identifies the existence of a humanitarian crisis, or when invited by the national government or a UN agency to establish a project. Massive vaccination campaigns, water and sanitation improvement, patient care, maternal and pediatric care, distribution of medicines and medical supplies and rehabilitation of hospitals and clinics are some of the various services offered by MSF. Currently there is great need for aid and assistance in the war-ridden Afghanistan, in the Democratic Republic of Congo with a health system in tatters after decades of conflicts and alarming mortality rates, in the rest of Africa and in the South American continent.

Note: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was founded in 1971 by a group of French doctors who were determined to find a way to respond rapidly and effectively to public health emergencies with complete independence from all influences. It provides assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation. Today, MSF is an international network with sections in 18 countries. Each year, more than 3000 doctors, nurses, other medical professionals, logistics experts, water sanitation engineers and administrators join 15,000 locally hired staff to provide medical aid in more than 80 countries. MSF was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1999 in recognition for its humanitarian work with populations in danger.

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