Maged Awni Muhammad Abu Ramadan (Arabic: ماجد عوني محمد أبو رمضان Mājid Abū Ramaḍān; 23 November 1955) is a Palestinian ophthalmologist who has served as the Minister of Health of the State of Palestine since March 2024.[1][2] He was the mayor of Gaza City between 2005 and 2008.[3][4][5]

Maged Abu Ramadan
ماجد عوني محمد أبو رمضان
Personal details
Born
Māged ʻAwnī Muḥammad Abū Ramaḍān

(1955-11-23)23 November 1955
Gaza City, Administration of the Gaza Strip by Egypt
NationalityPalestinian
RelativesʻAwnī Muḥammad Abū Ramaḍān, Mohammed Abu Ramadan, Hanāʼ Abu Ramadan, Ayed Abu Ramadan
ResidenceRamallah

Early and personal life

edit

Maged Awni Muhammad Abu Ramadan was born on 23 November 1955 in Gaza City.[4]

His father, Awni Abu Ramadan, was a teacher and businessman in Gaza, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (Gaza Strip) elected in 1962, and a member of the Gaza Municipal Council.[6]

His brother, Mohammed Abu Ramadan, served as Minister of State for Planning Affairs in the third Salam Fayyad government, and the First and Second Hamdallah Governments between 2012 and 2014, and is currently chairman of the Board of Directors of the Water Sector Regulatory Council.[7][8]

His sister, Hana Abu Ramadan, serves as the Consul General of the State of Palestine in Istanbul.[9]

In January 2023, his brother, Ayed Abu Ramadan, was elected Chairman of the Gaza chamber of Commerce & Industry.[10]

Education and career

edit

Abu Ramadan graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University in 1980, where he studied Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery.[3] He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists of the United Kingdom in 1990.[3]

Abu Ramadan worked as a physician at Al-Shifa Medical Complex between 1981 and 1987, and as an ophthalmologist at Lincoln County Hospital in the United Kingdom between 1987 and 1991.[3]

He began working for the Ministry of Health in 1992 and continued until 2007. He headed the Palestinian Ophthalmological Society in 1997.[3]

Mayor of Gaza City

edit

He served as mayor of Gaza between 2005 and 2008 and was also president of the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) from 2006 to 2012.[11]

He was also elected chairman of the board of directors of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) in Gaza Strip.[3]

He is a member of the board of directors of Saint John Eye Hospital Group in Jerusalem.

On 4 August 2018, he was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees of Al-Azhar University – Gaza[12] and later elected chair of the International Relations and Media Committee within the council.[13]

He stayed in the Gaza Strip for about 70 days during the Palestinian-Israeli war in 2023.

Minister of Health

edit

On 28 March 2024, President Abbas approved the ministerial formation of the 19th Palestinian government headed by Muhammad Mustafa and granted it confidence.[14] On 31 March 2024, Abu Ramadan took the legal oath remotely as Minister of Health.[15]

Honours

edit

Foreign honours

edit

  UK: Order of St John, Knight of the Order of St John. January 2018.[16]

References

edit
  1. ^ "رئيس الوزراء المكلف يقدم برنامج عمل الحكومة وتشكيلتها للرئيس لنيل الثقة". وكالة الأنباء والمعلومات الفلسطينية - وفا. Archived from the original on 2024-03-29. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  2. ^ "حكومة فلسطينية تضم 23 وزيراً من الخبراء... و6 وزارات لشخصيات من قطاع غزة". Alquds. Archived from the original on 2024-03-29. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "رؤساء البلدية السابقون". بلدية غزة. Archived from the original on 2023-11-06. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Maged Abu Ramadan (Minister of Health)". ecfr.eu. 29 March 2024. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  5. ^ "Ministers". pmo.pna.ps. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  6. ^ "الأستاذ عوني محمد أبو رمضان رجل أعمال وله باع طويل في عمل الخير ودعم المقاومة . ولد في سنه 1927 ، و توفى إلى رحمه الله في العام 2000". Adwwa. 13 December 2021. Archived from the original on 2024-03-30. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  7. ^ "تشكيلة الحكومة الفلسطينية الرابعة عشرة" (PDF). مركز المعلومات الوطني الفلسطيني. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  8. ^ "مرسوم رقم (5) لسنة 2013م بشأن اعتماد تشكيل مجلس الوزراء". muqtafi.birzeit.edu. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  9. ^ "القنصل العام". القنصلية العامة لدولة فلسطين في إسطنبول. Archived from the original on 2024-03-30. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  10. ^ "انتخاب المهندس عائد أبو رمضان رئيساً للغرفة التجارية بغزة". Maannews. Archived from the original on 2023-12-10. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  11. ^ "انتخاب رئيس بلدية أريحا نائبا لرئيس اتحاد الهيئات المحلية". بلدية أريحا. Archived from the original on 2023-01-28. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  12. ^ "قرار رقم (75) لسنة 2018م بشأن تشكيل مجلس أمناء جامعة الأزهر". Muqtafi.birzeit.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-08-11. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  13. ^ "مجلس الأمناء الجديد لجامعة الأزهر ينتخب أعضاء هيئة المكتب". Alwatanvoice. 15 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-08-15. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  14. ^ "رئيس الوزراء المكلف يقدم برنامج عمل الحكومة وتشكيلتها للرئيس لنيل الثقة". وكالة الأنباء والمعلومات الفلسطينية - وفا. Archived from the original on 2024-03-29. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "الحكومة التاسعة عشرة برئاسة الدكتور محمد مصطفى تؤدي اليمين الدستورية أمام الرئيس". وكالة الأنباء والمعلومات الفلسطينية - وفا. Archived from the original on 2024-04-01. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  16. ^ "No. 62164". The London Gazette. 5 January 2018. p. 218.