The emirate’s healthcare enabling freezone, Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), has dedicated a building to Dr Ahmed Kazim, the first Emirati doctor, by naming it after him.
Dr. Kazim was named the first Emirati doctor by the UAE Pioneers Award in 2014. The award is granted to UAE pioneers in a variety of professions in recognition of their contributions to the country, their pioneering spirit, and their status as the first in their fields.
“Dr Ahmed Kazim was a truly inspirational figure, both as person and as a medical professional. Without the dedicated service of selfless individuals such as Dr Kazim we wouldn’t be where we are today as a regional destination for healthcare excellence,” said Mr. Jamal Abdulsalam, CEO, Dubai Healthcare City Authority, the regulator of Dubai Healthcare City free zone.
“Renaming one of the buildings in our community after Dr Kazim will insure his legacy lives among all of us, from our business partners and stakeholders to patients and visitors. This initiative acknowledges Dr. Kazim great work, immortalises his name among the most influential figures of the region’s medical history.”
Houria Kazim, daughter of the late Dr. Kazim and the first female Emirati Surgeon said “My father loved being a Surgeon. His life’s work was about improving the lives of others and in doing so, has left a giant footprint for all of us to walk in. Adding his name to a building in DHCC, among the names of some of the most important figures in the history of Medicine, is an honour and tribute to my father’s service and leadership in the UAE. On behalf of my entire family and especially from myself, his daughter and a Surgeon too, we thank the DHCC for this incredible recognition of my father’s work. As people navigate around this building, in sight of the medical centre he worked in and loved, my wish is that they will be inspired and strive, like he did, towards the improvement of their patient’s lives.”
Dr. Kazim received his medical degree in 1950 and began his profession in 1955. For more than 60 years, he dedicated his life to the care of patients in the UAE and worldwide. Dr. Kazim just passed away at the age of 89.
Dr. Kazim’s pioneering accomplishments in the medical profession in the UAE have been recognised by DHCC, which has renamed one of its important buildings, building No. 33, in his honour.
The award is part of the DHCC’s effort to recognise important figures in the region’s medical history, such as polymaths, physicians, and scientists. The Ibn Sina Medical Complex (Building 27) at DHCC is named after Ibn Sina, a polymath known as the father of early modern medicine and one of the most influential physicians, astronomers, thinkers, and writers of the Islamic Golden Age.
The Al Razi Medical Complex (Building 64) is a prestigious facility. The Al Zahrawi Medical Complex (Building 34) was named in honour of Ab Bakr Muammad ibn ZakariyyAl Razi, a physician, philosopher, and alchemist widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of medicine, while the Al Qsim Khalaf ibn Al AbbsAl Zahrawi, a physician, surgeon, and chemist widely regarded as the greatest surgeon of the Middle Ages. He was dubbed the “Father of Modern Surgery” by some.
