Love Them All exists to promote health in Iraqi Kurdistan with a focus on life-saving interventions for infants and young children with congenital heart disease.
Our purpose as recognized by the government of Canada is:
- To promote health by funding local or international medical treatment of children with congenital heart disease in Iraqi Kurdistan
- To promote health by donating medical supplies and equipment to public hospitals and health centres in Iraqi Kurdistan
- To advance education by providing medical training, such as workshops and seminars, to health care professionals in Iraqi Kurdistan
- To do all such things that are ancillary and incidental to the above charitable purposes
We achieve our purpose by working directly with and under the guidance of qualified healthcare providers to collect, analyze and share information, raise awareness, build connections, fund projects, source and direct the transportation of medical products, and source and support access to medical care and training initiatives offered locally and abroad.
Local Immediate Medical Care for Children with CHD
We work directly with healthcare providers and patients to broaden access to information, medical expertise, treatments, supplies, and medical care offered locally for Children with Congenital Heart Disease.
Love The All is passionate about joining the efforts of others and becoming a catalyst for the services already offered locally so that patients have access to quality evidence-based care right where they live. Initiatives supported by Love Them All include projects that build essential infrastructure, increase access to medical equipment and systems and provide valuable information. Our goal is to ensure that access to medical exams, medication and procedures are available to all children and their families and to ensure that families make informed decisions for themselves and for their children. In doing this we specifically target those who are marginalized and those who face the barriers often caused by language, religion, race and and those affected by crisis.
Transportation to the Best Medical Care for Children with CHD
We work directly with local and foreign medical professionals for the purpose of creating opportunities for patients suffering from Congenital Heart Disease to travel abroad for life-saving care.
Love Them All offers patients and health care providers a unique set of services that create opportunities for patients to receive life-saving treatments abroad. The information and services provided are for the purpose of empowering patients and doctors. Love Them All empowers patients and local service providers to fulfil all the necessary requirements that often pose as major obstacles such as language and administrative hurdles. Oftentimes after a patient has been accepted into a program Love Them All will act as the point of contact for the family and for the foreign organization providing the service. While overcoming the language barrier, Love Them All has the opportunity to keep the patient’s family accountable to the process and ensures that both parties are informed about each step before, during and after interventional care.
Sadly, mortality rates due to congenital heart defects in Iraq are among the highest in the world. As long as current local conditions persist in Iraqi Kurdistan and its surrounding regions there will be a need to support transportation to life saving surgeries abroad. This type of intervention is particularly needed by displaced and marginalized children of Iraqi, Syrian and Yazidi families in the Kurdish region of Iraq where Love Them All started its operations.
Transportation of Medical Supplies
We source and direct the transportation of medical supplies and equipment to selected healthcare facilities in Iraqi Kurdistan by working directly with individual donors and organizations that donate medical supplies.
Government health care facilities in Iraqi Kurdistan often lack equipment, supplies and medicines especially in areas recently affected by financial crisis. We look for every opportunity to facilitate the donation of medical equipment and medicines, utilizing established systems in cooperation with other organizations to bring donations safely to places of need.
Support for Training Initiatives
We work directly with healthcare service providers, medical staff and specialists to increase access to training opportunities for pediatric facilities in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Love Them All supports the efforts of doctors and medical professionals from around the world who offer their valuable skills and expertise to provide training to local staff. Training may be offered through feet on the ground locally in the region where the beneficiary lives or it may be provided abroad through well established programs. Support is offered by Love Them All to supplement what is already available locally. Supported initiatives may come in the form of practical workshops, short-term and long-term placements, and in-person or online seminars.
While initiatives can vary in length and objective all efforts are made to better equip the local medical community. Training opportunities will not result in or contribute towards diplomas or degrees, however, certificates may be awarded to participants who complete the training supported by Love Them All.
Why We Do It
Iraqi Kurdistan has taken on large numbers of displaced people over the last 9 years which has induced strain on an emerging healthcare system still struggling to find its feet. According to a report written by ACAPS, an independent information provider “… Iraq struggles with the impact of both regional and internal crises: Syria’s civil war and families fleeing to seek refuge in Iraq since 2012; and the insurgency of IS militants in Iraq since 2014, leading to millions fleeing the country or being displaced within its borders.” (Source). In the last two years, COVID 19 has increased the burden on healthcare systems even further. According to a study completed in July of 2020 by UNICEF, the poverty rate in Iraq has increased to over 30%; a 10 point increase since the pandemic started (Source).