VPS Healthcare, a leading integrated healthcare service provider in the Middle East, Europe and India, said it has sealed a strategic alliance with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Chop), one of the largest children's hospitals in the world.

This is the first of several joint initiatives emanating from the MoU signed last October in which both organisations expressed commitment to establishing standards of excellence for pediatric care at VPS hospitals and clinics, said Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, the founder and managing director of VPS Healthcare.

The move will offer families close-to-home access to world-class pediatric care. The alliance also ensures that any VPS pediatric patients who need more specialized treatment will have seamless access to CHOP’s main hospital in Philadelphia, he stated at the Arab Health Congress in Dubai.

Dr Vayalil said this relationship with chop sharpens the UAE group's focus and commitment to raise the standards of medical care for its patients and the people of the Middle East.

"VPS plans to set up a state-of-the art facility - scheduled to open in 2017 - that marks a significant step forward in offering the most advanced medical care to the children of the UAE and across the Middle East," he added.

Madeline Bell, the president and chief executive of Chop, said: "This alliance marks many exciting firsts, as it is both my first visit to the UAE and Chop’s first alliance of its kind in the Middle East."

"VPS Healthcare’s innovative approach and growing presence in the region creates an ideal opportunity for us to share our expertise and capabilities in order to help build local capacity, while also providing a unique opportunity for Chop to expand and increase our international expertise," she added.

Dr Ali Obaid Al Ali, the chief executive of Abu Dhabi Hospitals, at VPS, said: "The creation of the region’s very first pediatric center in consultation with specialists from world-renowned Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia comes at a time when the UAE is in drastic need of establishing a systematic approach to broadening and improving pediatric care across a range of specialties."

“According to the World Health Organization, more than 26,000 mothers and 845,000 children under five years of age die each year across the Middle-East,” he stated.

Today’s news follows a year of substantial growth for VPS which last year treated over 2.5 million patients, along with forging several international partnerships/alliances in the public and private sector, he added.-TradeArabia News Service