Al Rabeeah, the health minister of Saudi Arabia

The exclusive interview with the health minister, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah ‘It’s patients first, health minister spells out policy’, I read in one of the gulf dailies, is really outstanding. It shows what a dedicated person he is.

I was in fact heartened to read his reason why he chose the job of a pediatric surgeon as his profession. He has said that it is purely out of his love of children.

How compassionate is Dr. Al-Rabeeah. How many professionals have the same motive of purely serving the humanity? How can one forget the dozens of successful surgeries he performed on separating Siamese twins, of various nationalities in the kingdom.

The most complicated of all surgeries he performed, I remember, was on a set of Egyptian twins-two four month old girls-Talia and Taleen, generously sponsored by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques – then the Crown Prince.

According to Al-Rabeeah the toughest part of that surgery was separating the liver.

Which, he said the doctors managed without losing a large amount of blood. If not this could have jeopardized children’s survival. Operation on Siamese twins began in Saudi Arabia in 1990. Al-Rabeeah’s work in this field is globally acclaimed.

What a wise decision it is for King Abdullah to appoint this dedicated surgeon, who is committed to his policy of ‘it’s patients first’, as the Minister of Health of Saudi Arabia. Within three years of his appointment Al-Rabeeah has made giant strides in improving the health services in the kingdom.

- Asian Tribune -

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