Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah is a Saudi pediatric surgeon. He has filled a number of supervisory and advisory roles in Saudi Arabia, including Minister of Health, Advisor to the Royal Court, and Supervisor General of the international aid agency KSrelief.

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah, MD, FRCSC
Supervisor General King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre
In office
May 2015 – present
Advisor Royal Court
In office
April 2014 – present
Minister of Health (Saudi Arabia)
In office
February 2009 – April 2014
Preceded byHamad Al Manie
Succeeded byAdel Fakeih
Chairman of the Board of Directors at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre
In office
August 2010 – April 2014
Chief Executive Officer of National Guard Health Affairs
In office
May 2005 – February 2009
President of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences
In office
July 2003 – February 2009
Personal details
Born (1955-02-23) 23 February 1955
Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
NationalitySaudi Arabia
Residence(s)Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Alma materKing Saud University
King Khalid University
Dalhousie University
University of Alberta

Early life and education

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on 23 February 1955.[1]

Al Rabeeah attended King Saud University, Riyadh where he obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degrees in July 1979. He interned in August 1980 at King Khalid University hospital, Riyadh. In 1981, Al Rabeeah was formally licensed to practice medicine. He studied at the University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton (1985) and IWK Hospital for Children, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1987) where he completed Fellowships in General and Pediatric Surgery, respectively.[1][2]

Career

Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah currently serves as the Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (known as KSrelief), headquartered in Riyadh.[3]

He also concurrently holds the position of Advisor to the Royal Court. KSrelief was inaugurated on 13 May 2015 by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; its purpose is to serve both as an aid-monitoring organization and as a direct provider for Saudi humanitarian aid and relief being administered worldwide.[4]

Previous positions

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud appointed Al Rabeeah as Minister of Health for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[5] He was appointed on 14 February 2009.[6] He served as Minister of Health until 21 April 2014.

Conjoined twins

As a pediatric surgeon, Al Rabeeah has continued to perform separations of conjoined twins. He performed his first separation of female Saudi conjoined twins at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Riyadh in December 1990, as well as a further three.[7] Since 1996, Al Rabeeah and the Saudi National Team have reviewed 99 cases and performed 42 successful separations of conjoined twins from 19 countries. 38 of these surgeries were carried out at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh.[8] All separations have been fully sponsored by the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

One of the most complex cases that Al Rabeeah undertook was at the request of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud concerning Malaysian conjoined twins, Ahmed and Mohammed. The parents pleaded to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to help them. Accepting the challenge, Al Rabeeah agreed to the late King Abdullah's request and performed the surgery on the twins in September 2002. The numerous surgical phases took 23.5 hours and resulted in a successful separation of the boys.[9] To this date, Al Rabeeah considers this one of the most difficult, but also as one of his proudest accomplishments as a surgeon.[7]

Initially, the conjoined twins team consisted of only 10% Saudis, today it boasts all Saudi members in the different specialties.[10]

Al Rabeeah wrote a book in Arabic entitled My Experience with Conjoined Twins; this book has been abridged in English (4 editions).[7] He has published three additional books, and authored entries in 103 scientific/medical/abstract publications.[11]

Al Rabeeah is one of the founding members of the Riyadh Pediatric Surgery Club (1993), and holds the position of Chairman to this day.

Other Positions Held

Personal life

Al Rabeeah is the father of eight children - seven girls (including a set of identical twins), and one boy. His son, Khalid, followed in his footsteps and is a medical consultant specializing in urology; Khalid also began his career by studying at King Saud University and completing his Fellowship in Canada.[13]

Abdullah Al Rabeeah is known for maintaining good relations with the people around him. He still stays in touch with patients and their families, many of whom have acknowledged and praised his extraordinary contribution and impact upon their lives.

Recognitions

References
  1. BIOGRAPHY
  2. "Abdullah bin AbdulAziz al-Rabeeah". MEED. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  3. "Relief center to streamline Saudi aid". Arab News. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  4. "KSrelief Vision and Mission". Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  5. "Major government reshuffle". Arab News. 15 February 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  6. خليجية (27 June 2015), الدكتور عبدالله الربيعة ضيف برنامج في الصميم مع عبدالله المديفر, retrieved 16 April 2017
  7. My Experience with Conjoined Twins. King Fahd National Library. 2013. ISBN 978-603-00-3797-1.
  8. "Separated Sudanese conjoined twins moved to pediatric ward". 6 November 2016.
  9. "Conjoined Twins:التوائم الملتصقة ". www.conjoinedtwins.med.sa. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  10. Team, MOH Portal. "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Ministry of Health Portal". www.moh.gov.sa. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  11. "عبدالله الربيعة .. طبيب وجراح عالمي من السعودية | المرسال". www.almrsal.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  12. "Biography and Synopsis | Ministry of Health & HIMSS Middle East Conference and Exhibition 2013". www.himssme.org. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  13. "د. الربيعة.. الطفل الحالم بمساعدة الأطفال". archive.aawsat.com. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  14. بنا, المنامة -. "البحرين تستضيف حفل تكريم الفائزين بجائزة العمل الإنساني الخليجية". صحيفة الوسط البحرينية (in Arabic). Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  15. "Dr. Abdullah Abdulazziz M. Al Rabeeah - Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences - HMA". hmaward.org.ae. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  16. "Power 100". Arabian Business. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
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