Tomorrow, Monday, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and the Patron of Hamdan Medical Award, will honor 20 winners of the 8th term of the award 2013-2014, at 5 pm at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

 

On this occasion, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences announced the names of the winners of the Hamdan Award for Honoring Individuals Working in the field of Medicine and Health in the UAE namely; Late Abd Elsalam Rafie, Emirati Businessman, Dr. Ahmed Abdulaziz Al Jaziri, Dr. Jamila Al Suwaidi and Dr. Elham Mohamed Al Amiri.

 

This was stated by Prof. Najib Al Khaja, Secretary-General of the award, pointing out that these 4 winners will be honored tomorrow during the award ceremony, as well as the winners of the other awards of the United Arab Emirates, the Arab world and the international awards whose names were announced during the press conference held by the award last month.

 

Prof. Najib Al Khaja congratulated the winners, particularly the winners of the Hamdan Award for Honoring Individuals Working in the field of Medicine and Health in the UAE, pointing out that they received the awards in recognition of their efforts in improving the health sector.

 

The late Emirati Businessman; Mr. Abdulsalam Rafi – may Allah have mercy on him – was a prominent social figure. He played a highly significant role in the charitable and humanitarian domains in the UAE and abroad. 

 

Oftentimes, he was able to find potential room for improvement in UAE healthcare system, and then he would work hard to fill up these gaps in order to better these services for both UAE nationals and expats.

 

In 1998 Late Abdulsalam Rafi started a diabetes treatment center at Al Baraha Hospital, this center currently provides healthcare for thousands of patients annually.

 

In 2012 he donated AED38 million for establishing a two story complex to house out-patient clinics at Rashid Hospital in Dubai. The first floor contains diagnostic laboratories and radiology rooms along with 42 rooms, which include a wound clinic, pharmacy, lactation room, prayer room and cafeteria.

 

The second floor consists of 42 rooms for all medical specialties including surgery.

 

The complex contains 84 clinics of various medical specialties in order to increase the capacity of out-patient clinics at Rashid Hospital from 100,000 patients per year to 200,000. Moreover, he added 85 new hospital beds to Internal Medicine Departments in order to avoid hospital overcrowding.

 

Late Abdulsalam Rafi – may Allah have mercy on him –contributed frequently to governmental charitable initiatives such as, “Dubai Cares” and similar campaigns to help afflicted people in various Islamic States and to build mosques, schools and hospitals.

 

Regarding Dr. Ahmed Abdulaziz Al Jaziri: As well as heading both the Physician Promotion Committee and Organ Transplantation Committee at Dubai Health Authority, he occupies currently a number of key positions at Rashid Hospital in Dubai; namely, Head of Surgery Departments, Head of Ozone Department, Head of Electroacupuncture Department, member of the Heads of Departments Committee, Deputy Chairman of the Treatment Abroad Committee. Additionally, he is a member of Emirates Medical Association (EMA) and Dubai Club for laparoscopic surgery.

 

He is one of the leading Emirati physicians in UAE. He obtained his MD from Cairo University in 1985, and then he joined the Department of Health and Medical Services, currently known as Dubai Health Authority. After that he started his specialization in general surgery in1986.

 

Since 2001, he has headed the Surgery Department at Dubai Hospital, where is well known for being very industrious and conscientious when it comes to taking care of his patients.

 

In addition to his work as a surgeon, Al Jaziri specialized in clinical protocols in Ozone therapy and obtained a Diploma for that from University of Ancona, Italy, then he specialized further in this field and got the “Ozone therapy” Certificate from Germany in 2003. He is also a certified therapist in electroacupuncture from Germany in 2003. He obtained a certificate of Ozone therapist/ physician from University of Ancona in Italy (2004). 

 

Since 2002, he has been working in the Alternative Medicine Department - Ozone Therapy, at Rashid Hospital in Dubai. Additionally, he commenced working at the electroacupuncture clinic in 2003.

 

He has contributed in developing training programs in laparoscopic surgery for doctors and medical students in all DHA hospitals, and his efforts are still ongoing.

 

Dr. Ahmad Al Jaziri invented several medical devices, which are used in laparoscopic surgery such as: “Clip Applicator” that was patented in Germany in 1990 and “Jaziri Mosulator” for removing abdominal tumors in a non-invasive way and liver hydatid cyst resection.

 

Dr. Dr. Jamila Al Suwaidi is a Consultant in “Radiation in Medicine Developments” at the Department of Medical Education in Dubai Health Authority. She is the Emirati Counterpart for National Projects in-cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Additionally, Al-Suwaidi heads a Research Project in Patient Radiationm Dosimetry in diagnostic radiology.

 

Dr. Jamila Al Suwaidi is the first Emirati to obtain postgraduate qualifications in the field of medical physics, with a special focus on nuclear energy. She obtained both M.Sc. and PhD in Radiation Physics from the University of Surrey, UK. Importantly, Al Suwaidi played a very active role in establishing and developing the Medical Physics specialty at the Faculty of Sciences at UAE University. Moreover, she contributed remarkably to the establishment and improvement of the specialty of Nuclear Medicine in the Emirate of Dubai since 1996, and to the introduction of Radioactive Iodine Therapy for patients. 

 

In 2000, Al Suwaidi founded the Radiation Protection Unit in the Department of Nuclear Medicine, and then she established the Department of Medical Physics at Dubai Hospital. The latter contained the Radiation Protection Unit to service Nuclear Medicine and Diagnostic Radiology.

 

In 2002, she participated in drafting and formulating the first federal law concerning radiation protection. In the same vein, Al-Suwaidi contributed to developing the regulatory details of the aforementioned law. In 2009, Jamila Al Suwaidi participated in establishing blood radiolabelling laboratory in cooperation with the International Society of Radiolabeled Blood Elements (ISORBE). This laboratory is the only regional lab of its kind to meet international standards.

 

Notably, Al Suwaidi was fully involved in establishing Radiation Protection and Safety programs, in addition to quality control programs in medical imaging and radioiodine therapy in Dubai Health Authority.

 

Dr. Al Suwaidi has participated in a number of local, regional and international projects in collaboration with International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna) and with World Health Organization (Geneva). With these projects, there were accompanying courses and workshops in nuclear imaging, radiology and radiotherapy. 

 

Furthermore, Dr. Al Suwaidi established regular educational programs around the principles of radiology protection in hospitals, and she extended these programs to involve dentistry as well. These programs are among the basic requirements for licensing for those who are involved in radiology.

 

Dr. Elham Mohamed Al Amiri: She is currently an adjunct assistant professor at the college of medicine, University of Sharjah, and a consultant pediatrician at Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah, where she is also the head of the Diabetes and Endocrine Unit.

 

She received her medical degree from King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia in 1993, and then she obtained her Master’s degree in Pediatrics from Trinity College at the University of Dublin (Ireland).

 

Throughout her career, Dr. Al Amiri had worked with numerous distinguished hospitals such as Al Ain Hospital, Latifa Hospital and Rashid Hospital before joining Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah. 

 

Additionally, she was a pediatric endocrinology fellow at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research center in Saudi Arabia and an ESPE Clinical fellow at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in the UK.

 

As well as maintaining her numerous clinical activities, Dr. Al Amiri works ardently in scientific research and managed to publish her findings in highly influential medical journals. The focus of her research is on neonatal and adolescent diabetes. 

 

Importantly, Dr. Al Amiri is the founder of the Diabetes Unit at Al Qassimi Hospital in 2001. This Unit serves both adults and pediatric patients. Also, one of her achievements is starting the voluntary support group “Friends for Diabetes”, which supports patients and provides educational, medical and financial help for individuals who are in need of treatment. The group also strives to raise public awareness about diabetes through organizing campaigns against diabetes in the UAE.

 

Dr. Al Amiri was one of the founders and committee member of Arab Society of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, which was founded in 2013.

 

It is worth mentioning that, in conjunction with the award ceremony, the activities of the 8th Dubai International Conference for Medical Sciences will start tomorrow (Monday).  12 workshops will be held with the participation of a constellation of experts from the fields of drug discovery, Targeted Therapy, Cell Therapy and vaccines, which are the topics of the current term of the award. also, the activities of the conference will be resumed on 16 and December 17 through 22 lectures to be presented by a galaxy of experts in these fields.