Umm Al-Qura University, in cooperation with the Health Volunteer Center at the Ministry of Health, has launched the “Numou [Growth]” program to qualify health volunteers and to spread the culture of volunteer work and improve its practices. The event was held under the sponsorship of the Vice President for Development and Community Service, Dr. Ali Al-Sha`iri, and was attended by the Dean of the College of Dentistry, Dr. Mashail Al-Qahtani, the Dean of the Institute of Consulting Research and Studies, Dr. Muhammad Al-Sharif, and the General Supervisor of the General Administration of Volunteering Work and Social Responsibility, Dr. Sumayyah Sharaf.

Dr. Ali Al-Sha`iri said that qualifying and training volunteers is among the goals that leads to the achievement of quality volunteer work that serves the individual and society. This is especially during the special seasons, such as those for Hajj, Umrah and visits inside Makkah and the Two Holy Mosques, and at hospitals and health centers providing healthcare services.

Moreover, Dr. Sumayya Sharaf stated that the program aims to qualify 1,000 health volunteers, in coordination with the College of Dentistry and the Institute of Consulting Research and Studies. It also supports the volunteering system by building the capacities of volunteers and providing them with knowledge about work culture, in addition to preparing health volunteer leaders and enabling them to manage different projects in this field.

In her turn, the Dean of the College of Dentistry, Dr. Mashail Al-Qahtani, pointed out that the idea of the program came to enable health cadres at the university to gain experience in work, providing them with the necessary professional skills in dealing with various cases with high professionalism in order to contribute to the development of the field of health volunteering, in line with the volunteering requirements of the Ministry in Health.