In a grand ceremony held at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Patron of the Award H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Chairman of Dubai Health Authority honored 21 winners of the 7th term of Hamdan Medical Award (HMA) with the attendance of a number of sheikhs, ministers and the official delegations representing the winners’ countries. 

 

After listening to the national anthem and the Holy Quran, a film on a 14-years achievement of Hamdan Medical Award was screened. Then, the chairman of the Board of Trustees H.E. Abdul Rahman Al Owais, UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development and Acting Minister of Health delivered a speech in which he welcomed His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance, President of Dubai Health Authority, and Patron of the Awards, and extended to His Highness the most sincere and highest expressions of thanks and gratitude for his generous and continuous support to the health sector in the United Arab Emirates and for his wise directives, which highly contribute in promoting the health system on the National, Arab and International level.

 

H.E. Al Owais said: "The UAE has made confident steps towards building the nation and causing it to progress and development, in completion and fulfillment of the excellence march the first bricks of which were put in place by the late leader His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan – may Allah rest his soul in peace. So the development of the country and the services rendered and made available to the citizens become our leadership first priority; may Allah protect and guide them all, represented by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, his brother His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and their brothers Their Highnesses Supreme Council Members and Rulers of the Emirates. If the scientific progress is the basic criterion for measuring the development of peoples and nations, then continuous improvement and care for the health sector and providing the latest technologies to the medical institutions as well as enabling continuous training of personnels must be in line with that" .

 

"His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has made great contributions to improve the medical sector in the country. In his pursuit of that achievement, the Medical Science Award was founded to be a leading Award in establishing the principles of medical excellence at all levels: the national, the regional and the international", he added.

 

"Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences has become in less than fourteen years an important factor in the development of health sectors through its outstanding efforts focusing on several areas, including Human Genetics, support for distinguished scientific research, and enhancing the ways of continuous medical teaching and publishing . The Award has chosen Neonatal Medicine as a main theme for the current term of the Award: that important specialization casting shadow over the life of the individuals, the family and the society, so that we can shed more light on one of the important rights of the child, namely the right to have access to quality health care, he said.

 

He also mentioned that Emirates has witnessed during the past few years a great leaps, whether concerning the level of health care provided to our children, in terms of legislative and health including hospitals and specialized divisions equipped with the state-of-the-art technological devices, or in terms of providing specialized medical staff such as doctors and highly qualified consultants .

 

"The 7th Dubai International Conference for Medical Sciences, held by the Award every two years in conjunction with the Award ceremony, has become one of the important scientific conferences that occupies a privileged position on the international medical conferences agenda, owing to its contribution to training a large number of doctors and researchers around the world through its important training courses and distinguished scientific meetings. So, from this platform, I am pleased to welcome the participation of the health sectors stakeholders in the state to the conference which will be held tomorrow to extend over a period of two full days, with the participation of some of the pioneers of Neonatal Medicine, Fetal Medicine, and Inborn Errors of Metabolism and Nutrition in Infants", he added.

 

Al Owais concluded his speech by saying: "Allow me to extend my very best congratulations and blessings to the winners and thank them very much for the great efforts they made towards drawing the "healing smile" on the faces of sick children or relieving the sufferance of the families of the children who are suffering from incurable diseases . I also thank the Scientific Committee of the Award and the International Arbitrators' Committee who spent two full years working hard to ensure the highest degree of impartiality and transparency in choosing the winners . Let me also thank my brothers the members of the Board of Trustees, the members of the General Secretariat of the Award, and the various Committees involved in this task for the important role they played in the success of the current term of the Award" .

 

Then, a film on the achievements of the winners was screened, and H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid went up on the stage to deliver the trophies to the winners. Regarding to the UAE Awards, H.H. Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan was received Hamdan Award for Outstanding Medical Personalities in the United Arab Emirates. Also, the other five winners of the same Award were announced and honored namely Dr. Mona Al Rukhaimi, Dr. Husnia Gargash, Dr. Azan Bin brek, Prof. Yousef Abdul Razzaq and Dr. Amin Badri.

 

Hamdan Award for Outstanding Clinical Department in the Public Sector in the UAE, dedicated to Department of Oncology, Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, was received by Humaid Al Mansouri, Deputy Executive Director of the hospital. Dr. Aref Al Nouriany, Director, Al Qassimi Hospital, Sharjah, UAE, received the award dedicated to the hospital’s Cardiac Cath Lab Department. Also, Dr. Abdullah Al Khayat, Executive Director of Latifa Hospital, Dubai, received the award dedicated to the hospital’s Department of Neonatal Care.

 

Dr. Mahmoud Hag Ali, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, UAE University, Al-Ain, received Hamdan Award for Original Research Paper Published in the Journal of Medical Sciences. 

As for the Arab World Awards, Prof. Abdullatif A. Al-Bader, President, Kuwait University, received Hamdan Award for Medical College/Institute or Centre in the Arab world which is dedicated to Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University. Also, Dr. Sultan Al-Sidiri, Executive Director, Prince Salman Center for Disability Research, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, received the award dedicated to the center.

 

As for Hamdan Award for Distinguished Personalities in the Arab World, it was delivered to Dr. Abdullah Abdulazziz M Al Rabeeah, KSA Minister of Health, and Dr. Anna Rajab, Oman Ministry of Health.

 

Concerning the International Awards, Sheikh Hazza Bin Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Hamdan Award for Volunteers in Humanitarian Medical Services, dedicated to Women & Health Alliance (WAHA) International, France.

 

The 2nd winner of Hamdan Award for Volunteers in Humanitarian Medical Services was awarded to Al Sabeel Association for Physically Disabled Children, Algeria, received by Mrs. Fawzeya Bul-khumair, President of the association. Also, Dr. Shershad Syed, Pakistan, the 3rd winner of the award, was honored.

 

As for Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid honored Prof. Sir Nicholas Wald, UK, Prof. Rebecca A Simmons, USA, and Prof. Ronald J A Wanders, Netherlands. Also, the Grand Hamdan International Award was delivered to Prof. Jeffrey Whitsett, USA.

 

At the end of the ceremony, the members of the Board of Trustees of Hamdan Medical Award went up on the stage and took photos with H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Patron of the Award. Also, Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, KSA Minister of health, presented to H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid a commemorative gift, a copy of his book entitled "My experience with Siamese twins".