Kuala Lumpur, 18 July 2019 – In conjunction with the biennial 3rd IMU Cares Humanitarian Mission Conference, the International Medical University (IMU), Malaysia’s premier private medical and health sciences university, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MERCY Malaysia, an international non-profit organisation focusing on providing medical relief, sustainable health-related development and risk reduction activities for vulnerable communities, in both crisis and non-crisis situation today at the IMU premises. 
Both agreed to collaborate in research and development in the field of health research, provide joint training, teaching and learning pertaining to the field of health, communities and humanitarian in general, and collaborate in community service activities to provide and raise awareness of better health among communities.
The MoU was signed on behalf of IMU by Prof Abdul Aziz Baba, Vice-Chancellor and for MERCY Malaysia by Dato’ Dr Ahmad Faizal Mohd Perdaus, President, witnessed by Prof Peter Pook, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic of IMU and Dr Nasuha Yaacob, Exco Member of MERCY Malaysia. Also present were speakers and delegates of the conference, IMU staff and students, and representatives from MERCY Malaysia.
“It is indeed an honour to be working closely with MERCY Malaysia, a veteran in providing medical relief and humanitarian aid and awareness on international grounds. Our partnership has been established over the years through various projects and programmes among our schools, programmes and our community engagement arm – IMU Cares. As we celebrate our MBBS programme’s 20th anniversary, this collaboration with MERCY Malaysia reinforces the University’s collective aspiration to instil and practise our core values of care, empathy, and to create opportunities for our staff and students to practise professionalism and experience inter-professional learning as they serve society in an impactful manner,” said Prof Abdul Aziz Baba, Vice-Chancellor of IMU. President of MERCY Malaysia Dato’ Dr Ahmad Faizal Mohd Perdaus echoes his sentiments, expressing his pleasure at the collaboration. “Humanitarian work is a professional service that needs to be conducted in a coordinated and well-regulated manner in order to bring the highest value to the stakeholders such as beneficiaries, donors and aid workers. Through this partnership, we hope to cultivate more humanitarian leaders who will be the movers and shakers of the sector in the region and beyond,” he surmises.
| About IMU Cares |
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Committed to serving the community, IMU had established its community engagement arm, IMU Cares, that enables both students and staff to engage with the community through projects that help the underserved, vulnerable and disenfranchised population.  Since its establishment in 2002, IMU Cares has evolved from a series of sporadic events to a well-structured programme with defined framework. With measurable outcomes for every project, the IMU Cares works closely with the schools and its MPU4 programme to provide a strategic platform for IMU students and staff to lead, plan and execute various community service projects that is aligned with our focus areas of – healthcare awareness and services, education, environment and humanitarian aid. Apart from benefitting the society, these projects also provide students with valuable leadership skills and service learning opportunities and whenever possible, inter-professional learning among students and staff from participating programmes and schools. This links to an important part of IMU’s mission – preparing our students as community-engaged leaders and change agents. |
