KUWAIT: A group of medical students at Kuwait University launched an initiative to raise awareness about the importance of donating money for cancer treatment, as financial costs are one of the biggest obstacles during the treatment journey. This initiative was driven by the students’ sense of social responsibility. The drive is being held at the center of Assima Mall in Kuwait City.

Ahmad Al-Bayati, a seventh-year medical student at the College of Medicine at Kuwait University, said a group of students from various medical specialties are behind this initiative. “We started under the title ‘Be the Means’, which aims to raise awareness about cancer and encourage people to donate money for the treatment of patients, in addition to trying to educate people about the value of each dinar they donate and how it positively impacts the lives of patients,” he said.

This initiative is supported by the Patients Helping Fund Society, where donations go to this organization and hospitals receive the funds on behalf of patients who struggle with medical costs. These donations serve all cancer patients in Kuwait, whether citizens or expatriates. “This initiative is a student initiative, starting with students but directly cooperating with the Patients Helping Fund acting as a supportive umbrella for the project and a helping hand for students.

The fund is a charitable organization, meaning that donations go directly to the patients. What drove us as students is that we are healthcare students who deal with cancer on a daily basis through studies, hospitals or research, making us feel a societal responsibility to deliver this message,” Bayati said.

“Just as every charitable movement has its people who bear its responsibilities, this disease has become our responsibility as we work in the healthcare field, especially since money is one of the main obstacles to treating this disease. Therefore, we raised awareness about the importance of donating money to spread awareness about one of the biggest problems of one of the biggest diseases,” he added.