Saving lives: How doctor’s pledge drives KSrelief, Saudi humanitarian aid

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Updated 07 March 2023
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Saving lives: How doctor’s pledge drives KSrelief, Saudi humanitarian aid

  • Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah is spearheading Saudi Arabia’s emergence as a humanitarian powerhouse 
  • The pediatric surgeon has separated 55 sets of conjoined twins from 23 countries since 1990

RIYADH: As the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, “the humanitarian arm of Saudi Arabia,” expands its global reach, many abroad may not know about a doctor’s care that drives the organization’s lifesaving assistance.

KSrelief was established by King Salman in 2015 with the aim of “delivering relief and aid to all in the world who are in need.” In April of that year, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, a pediatric surgeon and adviser to the Saudi Royal Court, was appointed its supervisor-general.

This is not the first time that Al-Rabeeah has held public office. He has already served a term as the Kingdom’s health minister, headed a number of its major medical projects and institutions, and for the past 30 years has spearheaded a program that separates conjoined twins born into poor families.

Al-Rabeeah has separated so many children since his first such surgery in 1990 that on the occasions when he gathers them for Saudi Conjoined Twins Program reunion meetings, they can barely fit in one frame of one photo.

In those family photos are children from all over the world, some already adults, who remain in touch with the doctor who for many has become a parental figure as well — one who has given them a new chance in life.

He, too, regards them as his children.

“For me, every twin matters and I can tell you myself, and all of my colleagues, the team, they believe that those children are part of their family,” Al-Rabeeah told Arab News.

Young patients from 23 countries have benefited from his surgical skill.

Conjoined twins are a rare phenomenon, estimated to occur once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa.

Al-Rabeeah and his team have to date separated 55 sets of conjoined twins. Their last surgery took place in January, when they operated on Iraqi toddlers Ali and Omar, who were conjoined at the lower chest and abdomen, sharing a liver, bile ducts and intestines.

The six-phase operation at King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital in Riyadh took 11 hours, involving 27 doctors and nurses from different specialties.

Many previous surgeries were much longer and performed by even larger teams, depending on the point of attachment and the internal parts that the children shared.

Each case is different, but the emotional moment at the end of the surgery is always the same.

“After we do this operation, when the parents come running, their tears of happiness, this is truly what touches my heart,” Al-Rabeeah said. “We have seen it basically with every twin. We have seen it with the twins from Poland, from Yemen, from Iraq, from Saudi Arabia, from the Philippines.”

Most doctors try to maintain a distance from their patients, especially in cases when lives are at stake, as they fear their job may become too emotionally overwhelming.

For Al-Rabeeah, distance is impossible, especially when his patients are children. “I’m a strong believer that for a doctor to succeed, they have to treat their patients as part of their family,” he said.




Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah performs separation surgery on conjoined twins at King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital in Riyadh in 2022. (KSRelief)

“When you help, either save the life or improve the lives of children, especially conjoined twins, and you see them, how one body has become two bodies, one bed has become two beds ... I don’t think that’s something that you can forget easily. And for me it’s a lifelong bonding.”

Despite his increasing involvement in public service in Saudi Arabia over the years, Al-Rabeeah has never been off duty as a doctor, continuing to perform surgery even while serving as minister.

Medicine and saving lives is his calling — a path Al-Rabeeah would not change even if he could go back four decades to choose a different field.

“When I started studying medicine, I believed in it,” he said, recalling the time he joined the College of Medicine at King Saud University in Riyadh.

“When I selected the specialty of pediatric surgery, I believed in surgery, I believed in children ... When you do something, I always even teach (that) to my children: Don’t do anything unless you believe in it.”

His physician ethics are evident in Al-Rabeeah’s humanitarian work with KSrelief, which since its establishment has provided lifesaving emergency, food and medical assistance in 90 countries.




Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and his team at King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital in Riyadh in 2022. (KSRelief)

These interventions, worth more than $6 billion, have over the past eight years positioned Saudi Arabia as one of the world’s most generous humanitarian donors and fastest aid responders.

The substantial and timely nature of the Saudi emergency response was evident when devastating earthquakes hit southern Turkiye and northern Syria last month, killing more than 50,000 people. In some of the affected regions, KSrelief teams were the first foreign rescuers to arrive with emergency aid and medical care.

The humanitarian crisis in Turkiye and Syria has also put KSrelief’s mission of encouraging public participation and support for Saudi relief efforts in the limelight. In the weeks since it launched an online campaign for earthquake victims, KSrelief has collected more than $130 million in private donations.

“With respect to the Saudi (emergency) response in both Syria and Turkiye, I’m proud of it,” Al-Rabeeah told Arab News on the sidelines of the Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum, hosted by KSrelief and the UN in the Saudi capital in late February.

At the conference, Saudi Arabia pushed for strengthening communication between global aid actors and finding solutions to response challenges, at a time when the number of natural and man-made disasters seems to be on the rise.




Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah poses in 2010 with a group of conjoined twins he has operated on. (Supplied)

“We have seen an increasing number of conflicts, disasters and earthquakes, so we have to improve our response and be quicker,” Al-Rabeah said. “Coordination remains an issue, especially when there is an emergency response, and this is an area that has been also discussed — how we can be more coordinated than ever.”

With the number of projects and interventions increasing every year and with the support it enjoys from the Saudi government, KSRelief may in the future lead the way in improving global aid.

“KSRelief is the humanitarian arm of Saudi Arabia,” Al-Rabeeah said. “I foresee KSRelief in 10 years to be one of the very key and important players in the humanitarian field. Not only to provide aid, because everybody can provide aid, but to be also instrumental in the policymaking of aid, and in improving the quality of aid.”

And there is no overstating his dedication to the cause. “Nothing touches my heart more than helping people in need,” Al-Rabeah said. “I believe in it.”


Saudi Arabia ‘categorically rejects’ Israel’s plan to seize Gaza territory

Updated 08 May 2025
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Saudi Arabia ‘categorically rejects’ Israel’s plan to seize Gaza territory

  • Israeli authorities on Monday approved plans to take over territory and forcibly displace population
  • Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemns Israel’s violations of international law

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has “categorically rejected” plans by Israel to expand its military operations in Gaza and seize control of the territory.

The ministry also “strongly condemned the continued Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law.”

Israeli authorities on Monday approved a new ground operation to take over parts of Gaza, forcibly displace Palestinians into the south of the territory, and control the distribution of humanitarian aid. The Israeli army is calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.

The announcement sparked widespread international condemnation. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said it stood firmly opposed to any attempted expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, and stressed the importance of holding Israel accountable for failures to comply with international resolutions.

The Kingdom continues to have “unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, in line with international legitimacy, the Arab Peace Initiative, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital,” the ministry added.


Saudi project destroys 600 more Houthi landmines and other explosives in Yemen

Updated 07 May 2025
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Saudi project destroys 600 more Houthi landmines and other explosives in Yemen

  • The devices, cleared from various parts of the war-torn country in recent months, were safely detonated on Wednesday
  • Project Masam has removed nearly 500,000 mines across Yemen since its launch in 2018

RIYADH: Members of the Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance, also known as Project Masam, safely detonated 600 mines, unexploded ordnance and other explosive devices on Wednesday.

The project’s engineers had demined and removed the devices over the past few months from various parts of Yemen, including the town of Beihan and the districts of Usaylan and Ain in Shabwah governorate.

Hussein Al-Aqili, commander of the project’s survey team, said they carried out the destruction operation in the Thahba area of Ain district on Wednesday as part of their ongoing mission to clear mines and other remnants of war in Yemen, and save civilian lives.

The project has cleared nearly 500,000 mines from the country since its work there began in 2018.

Last week, Ousama Algosaibi, the managing director of Masam, warned that the Houthis continue to exploit periods of truce to plant more mines across Yemen.

“We are in a constant race with the Houthi militias; we clear mines from one side while they plant more on the other,” he said during an interview with Al-Ekhbariya TV.


Saudi ambassador meets Bahrain King’s media affairs adviser

Updated 07 May 2025
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Saudi ambassador meets Bahrain King’s media affairs adviser

Saudi Ambassador to Bahrain Naif bin Bandar Al-Sudairi was received by Nabeel bin Yacoub Al-Hamer, media affairs adviser to the King of Bahrain, in Manama on Wednesday.

The adviser expressed his pride in the solid fraternal relations and deep-rooted historical ties that bind the two countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

He also wished Al-Sudairi continued success in his duties, which will further support and strengthen the fraternal ties, mutual coordination, and close cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in various fields, and particularly in the media.


 


Saudi commission expands music access for people with disabilities

Updated 07 May 2025
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Saudi commission expands music access for people with disabilities

  • Push for accessible arts programming reflects wider goals for social development

MAKKAH: Saudi Arabia’s Music Commission has launched a national initiative to expand access to music education for people with disabilities, marking a key step toward their greater inclusion in the Kingdom’s cultural landscape.

Focused on Riyadh, Jeddah and Alkhobar, the program trains instructors to teach students with physical and cognitive disabilities.

It supports the ambitions of Saudi Vision 2030, which seeks to elevate quality of life and ensure opportunities for all segments of society.

Music education expert Issa Al-Qarbi praised the initiative as a transformative step in supporting individuals with disabilities.

“Music is a highly effective medium for stimulating brain activity, developing motor and social skills, and enhancing overall psychological well-being,” he said.

The initiative includes adapting teaching methods, specialized curricula and fully accessible learning environments aligned with the requirements of the Mowaamah certification, a program which provides support to increase participation among disabled individuals in the labor market.

In designing the program, the commission partnered with international experts in music on the curricula and programs that align with global best practices.

The existing models were reviewed using the standards set by the National Association for Music Education.

The commission’s goal is to empower students to express themselves through music, boost their self-confidence and enhance their social, cognitive and motor skills.

The students will receive extended training that prepares them for group performances while supporting their artistic, cognitive and social development. Sessions with parents and community members are also being planned to raise awareness and encourage family engagement.

Al-Qarbi said that long-term sustainability and lasting impacts could be ensured by closer partnerships between the education and healthcare sectors.

He praised the initiative as a regional model, opening the door to further research and innovation.

He said that teaching music to individuals with disabilities went beyond technical skills, nurturing essential personal qualities such as patience, discipline and social engagement, which in turn positively influenced many areas of their lives.


Saudi surgeons separate Egyptian child from parasitic twin

Updated 07 May 2025
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Saudi surgeons separate Egyptian child from parasitic twin

  • Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah says operation is one of the most delicate carried out by his team
  • Procedure takes 8 hours and involves multidisciplinary team of 26 consultants

RIYADH: A medical team from the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program successfully completed a surgical procedure on Wednesday to separate an Egyptian child from a parasitic twin.

The operation on 8-month-old Mohammed Abdulrahman Juma at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh took eight hours and was split into six stages. It involved a multidisciplinary team of 26 consultants, including specialists in anesthesia, neurosurgery, pediatrics and plastic surgery.

A parasitic twin, also known as a vestigial twin, is an identical twin that stopped developing during gestation and is physically attached to a fully developed twin. Because it did not fully develop, it cannot survive on its own and often dies in the womb or during birth.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, who heads the surgical team and is an advisor at the royal court and supervisor general of Saudi aid agency KSrelief, said the twins were joined at the back, lower chest, abdomen and pelvis. The parasitic twin lacked a head and essential organs, including a heart and kidneys.

Al-Rabeeah described the operation as one of the most delicate his team has been involved with, and thanked his colleagues for their efficiency and skill during the surgery, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Mohammed and his parents flew to Saudi Arabia in March after King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman issued directives for medics in the Kingdom to help the child.

The operation on Wednesday was the 63rd separation procedure carried out under the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program, which has reviewed 149 cases of patients from 27 countries since its inception in 1990.