Kuwait witnessed comprehensive health renaissance during his tenure

KUWAIT: Kuwait yesterday lost the Former Health Minister, Minister of Planning and National Assembly member Dr Abdulrahman Al-Awadhi at the age of 83 years, who made major development in the health sector during his tenure. Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah expressed his deepest condolences to the deceased's family and the whole health sector, noting that Dr Awadhi had many prominent local, regional and international achievements.

Dr Awadhi was born on December 18, 1936, received his university education at the American University of Beirut, and received a Bachelor of Science in 1958. Dr Awadhi continued to receive post-graduate science, where he received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom in 1963 and received a master's degree in public health from Harvard University, USA, in 1965. The late minister served as a resident doctor in the Ministry of Health between 1963 and 1965 and as a Rapporteur of the Planning Committee of the Ministry of Health in 1965 and a doctor registered at the Ministry of Health Hospitals from 1966 until 1969. He was Assistant Director of the Department of Preventive Services at the Ministry of Health in 1969 and Assistant Undersecretary of Preventive Services from 1970 to 1975.

Political career
As for his political life, the late Dr Awadhi started his political career in 1975 when he was elected to the National Assembly from 1975 until 1980 and was appointed Minister of Public Health from 1975 to 1983. Dr Awadhi was Minister of Public Health and Minister of Planning from 1983 until 1986, Minister of Planning from 1988 to 1990 and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs in 1990 and 1991. While in the Ministry of Health for more than ten years, Kuwait has witnessed a comprehensive health renaissance where most hospitals were built and the medical mission for Hajj was developed. At the international and regional levels, the Dr Awadhi held a number of positions, most notably the Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Arab Ministers from 1976 to 1987, the Chairman of the Kuwait Environmental Protection Council from 1980 to 1987 and the Executive Secretary of the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment in 1981.

Honorary degrees
Dr Awadhi received a number of honorary degrees, most notably the Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Medicine, Ireland in 1977, his honorary doctorate from the University of Si Cheikh Boon-Korea in 1977, the Honorary Fellowship at the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians (Glasgow), 1982, and the Honorary Fellowship of the American Society of Public Health 1982. The late Dr Awadhi was honored by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 2011 as part of the group of doctors who served Kuwait for 30 years and received the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences in 2008. - KUNA