Rabea, the newly-appointed Minister of Health, said he will do his best to boost the level of medical services in the Kingdom which have come under fire as of late. He called on all ministry staff to help him in his mission. Al-Rabeah has replaced Dr. Hamad Al-Mane' in this position. “I would like to thank Allah, then King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for his unlimited support for health care services,” the new minister said. Having worked for 14 years in Medical Affairs at the National Guard, Dr. Rabea said that throughout this period, he has worked closely with King Abdullah, learning from his forward looking and well-organized planning. “I am confident that I will be working with responsible staff at the ministry to form a spirit of teamwork to address all the medical concerns of the nation,” he said. As head of the surgical team at the National Guard's King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Dr. Al-Rabea is world renowned for surgery to separate conjoined twins. Since 1990, Dr Al-Rabea and his 25-member medical team have performed several successful operations to separate conjoined twins from countries around the world, including Saudi Arabia (three sets of twins), Sudan (two sets), Egypt (two sets), Malaysia (one set), the Philippines (one set) and Poland (one set). They all survived and are leading normal lives in their respective countries. Huda Al-Ghunaim, Dr. Rabea's wife, said that her husband now has an added responsibility of providing health care services nationwide. It is not easy, but with the help of the ministry staff, it can be done, she said. The couple has eight children: Khaled, a physician; Sha'dha, married with her husband on a scholarship abroad; Ghada and Reem, computer majors; Norah, high school student; Sara, intermediate school student; and twin girls Hayfa and Hana in elementary school.
