Dubai – Gul Begum, a chronic diabetes patient and Pakistani living in the UAE, has been visiting the medical center at the Pakistan Association Dubai (PAD) for the last five years, where she attends a free medical camp once a month and can get the care she needs in a language she understands.
The initiative has treated approximately 26,000 needy patients from all nationalities and backgrounds, free of cost since 2009. 
By December this year, the same free service will be provided in what will be the GCC’s first non-profit health care facility to be put together by any expat community: the Pakistan Medical Center (PMC), a 24/7 facility built brick-by-brick by Pakistani expats.
“Besides diabetes, I have high blood pressure too and am so happy that I get treated free of cost and medicine is not charged,” Gul said.
The campaigning to raise funds for the center is also being done through a unique concept. The ‘own-a-brick’ initiative offers community members the opportunity to sponsor 17,000 bricks, with each brick costing AED1,000. The total cost of construction is estimated at AED17 million, with over 80 percent of the work already completed, according to PAD officials.
“We hope that by November, we will have all licensing procedures in place so that we can have a formal opening soon after,” Dr. Feisal Ikram, the president of PAD, told Arab News, and added that the center would be open for all nationalities as part of the UAE’s vision of tolerance and social cohesion. 
“Once they donate, the members become part of the center for 10 years which makes them feel that they own the center,” Ikram said and added that the facility and its fundraising were an opportunity for greater community building.
“We are not only asking for money but also engaging the community at all levels and giving them an opportunity to be part of a bigger organization and project,” he said.
Another AED 2.8 million is still needed to complete the center, with a fundraising campaign planned for a later stage to cover operational costs, officials said.
Dr. Nighat Aftab, President of PAD’s Medical Wing, said the initiative to treat people for free had begun years ago as a small initiative every month by a handful of doctors.
“We started seeing patients with chronic and acute diseases such as diabetes, cardiac issues, hypertension, children with fever and dental problems and so on, on the last Friday of every month,” she said.
And then word got around.
When the free medical camp started, Aftab said it was attended by about 150 people and tended to by 15 doctors. The number of people has now increased to nearly 400, with roughly 40 volunteer doctors. 
 “We thought, what if we could give more services? And then the law was changed... allowing a social club to have medical services,” Aftab said, with that idea now taking shape in the form of PMC.
Besides medical experts, a huge number of students, women and other residents also volunteer their time at the center and medical camp.
Pakistani citizen Ahmed and his wife, Jamila, said they have been coming to the center from Sharjah for the last seven years.
“My wife has diabetes so she needs regular checkups...here she gets free medicine sometimes for a month, and other times for three months which helps relieve a huge burden,” he said.
While the community has helped raise funds, Pakistani celebrities have also endorsed the cause. This month, famed Pakistani writer and poet, Anwar Maqsood, will be holding an evening of prose and poetry at the center.
In an earlier visit to Dubai, Maqsood said, “It’s such a proud feeling to see Pakistanis build a center for themselves, brick by brick. This building will give you a sense of ownership and your generations will take pride in claiming their parents were part of such a great cause.”
Other celebrities such as Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi and actor Bushra Ansari have also lent their support to the center. 
Speaking on the occasion of the 79th National Day of Pakistan, the UAE’s Minister of Tolerance, Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan said, “I admire your initiative in establishing the PMC and commend the spirit of tolerance that will be at the heart of its operations.”
“The new center will welcome all people who seek medical help, irrespective of their nationality, ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, gender, political views, economic status, or age,” he said.