Dubai building named after late Dr Ahmed Kazim, the first Emirati doctor

A building in Dubai has been named after the first Emirati doctor, Dr Ahmed Kazim, who passed away recently.

The Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) paid tribute to Dr Kazim’s legacy by naming building number 33 after him.

Dr Kazim was a veteran doctor, who won a UAE Pioneers Award in 2014. He had graduated from medical school in 1950 and started his career in 1955. He went on to devote his life to the care of patients in the UAE and beyond for more than 60 years.

Dr Kazim died at the age of 89.

“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 Jamal Abdulsalam, CEO, Dubai Healthcare City Authority.

“Renaming one of the buildings in our community after Dr Kazim will ensure his legacy lives among all of us, from our business partners and stakeholders to patients and visitors. This initiative acknowledges Dr Kazim’s great work and 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, hailed the initiative.

“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 the 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.”

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The tribute comes as part of the DHCC’s approach of recognising pioneers. Its building number 27 is named after Ibn Sina, a polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age, and the father of early modern medicine.

Building number 64 honours Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyāʾ Al Razi, a physician, philosopher and alchemist, widely considered one of the most important figures in the history of medicine. Building number 34 was named in tribute to Abū Al Qāsim Khalaf ibn Al Abbās Al Zahrāwī, a physician, surgeon and chemist who was considered to be the greatest surgeon of the Middle Ages.

• UAE