NT Bureau
DOHA: An Indian expat organization in Qatar has created a record by organizing what it called a Biriyani Challenge to raise funds for the treatment of an Indian girl suffering from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
In a massive effort which was praised both for its coordination and excellence in execution, Qatar Indian Pravasi Association (QIPA), a Facebook group with more than 25,000 members, distributed more than 5,500 packets of biriyani in a few hours throughout Qatar on Friday, raising more than QR 100,000 in a humanitarian gesture.
Representatives of QIPA on Monday presented a donation of QR 107,001 to Qatar Charity for the treatment of Malkha Roohi, a four-month-old baby from Kerala, India, whose family is residing in Qatar.
The Briyani Challenge drive was assisted by Hasaath, an association of limousine drivers in Qatar, whose hundreds of members took up the challenge of delivering the food to customers in various parts of Qatar, free of cost.
More than 2,500 biriyanis were prepared at special kitchens and 3,000 biriyanis were prepared by restaurants, all of which were distributed at QR 20 apiece.
The campaign was widely publicized through social media and thousands of people offered to buy the food, just to help Malkha Roohi whose condition has created a wave of sympathy and has been taken up by the community.
Scores of volunteers worked hard to make the campaign a success.
“We would like to thank all those who participated and assisted in this campaign. In fact, the success of the campaign was beyond our expectations,” Santosh Kannamparambil, President of QIPA, told News Trail.
QIPA representatives, including Chief Patron Jopachan Thekekut, Treasurer Simon Varghese, Join Treasurer Lajeesh Shanmukham, and Media Coordinator Shabir Puthanpurakal, handed over the cheque to Qatar Charity.
Qatar Charity is spearheading the charity drive to collect funds for Roohi’s treatment.
“The donation represents the collective efforts of numerous individuals who generously contributed to support Malkha’s medical expenses. QIPA’s action highlights the strong sense of brotherhood among expatriate Indians in Qatar and their commitment to assisting those in need,” QIPA General Secretary Nishad Hassankutty said.
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare hereditary genetic condition in which muscles throughout the body are weakened because nerve cells in the spinal cord and brainstem do not work properly.
“With a cost of $2.1 million for a one-dose treatment, Zolgensma is currently the most expensive drug in the United States. Zolgensma treats spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic disorder that causes muscle wasting and weakness,” Forbes magazine in an article on why the SMA drug is so expensive.
“More specifically, Zolgensma is a type of gene therapy, which means it replaces a faulty or nonworking gene to cure a disease. Zolgensma is designed to target the genetic cause of spinal muscular atrophy, which is a missing or nonworking SMN1 gene. The drug replaces the SMN1 gene with a new, working copy,” Forbes said.
