A leading woman Saudi researcher, who won a top regional World Health Organization (WHO) prize, has praised her father for giving her the freedom to choose medicine as a career. The award was announced in the 56th session of the Down Syndrome Research in the East of the Mediterranean held in Morocco last October. Dr. Huda Qattan said her father, who worked as Chief Judge at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo, gave her the freedom to choose and make her own decisions. He also warned her about the difficulties she would face as a doctor, she said. “Getting married to Adnan Izzat, Executive Medical Director at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Consultant Oncologist, helped me a lot because he understood the nature of my work and my status as a woman doctor.” As for the prize she won, Qattan said the Down Syndrome Prize for the East of the Mediterranean is awarded by the WHO every two years and was established in 1999. The objective of the prize is to encourage research on Down Syndrome by institutions or individuals because of the increase in the number of cases among newborn babies. It was an initiative by Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Awadhi, Chairman of the Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences, she said. “I was nominated for the prize last October because of the medical research I conducted in this field, including research related to poor hearing, heart diseases and loose neck cords of children with Down Syndrome. I had a pleasant surprise when the hospital received a letter from Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health, on my nomination for the prize.” Qattan's work is not restricted to scientific research only, she has a monthly schedule at a medical clinic of the Al-Nahdha Charitable Society where she treats children with Down Syndrome free of charge. These children are transferred to specialist hospitals for the treatment of the disease. She studied medicine overseas. “I obtained a doctorate degree in pediatrics from the University of Ottawa in Canada. I was the first Saudi to obtain a doctorate in pediatrics from this university. If time can be turned back, I'll never choose any specialization other than medicine and specifically pediatrics because this has allowed me to find solutions for children's problems.” Qattan became the first chairwoman of the Committee for the Protection of Children's Rights in the Kingdom that was established in 1994 at King Faisal Specialist Hospital. She then started her first research into children affected by violence. Also, the committee organized the first international conference in 2002 where international experts presented their research into children subjected to violence. She expressed her gratitude to her director Dr. Fahd Al-Abdul Jabbar, who gave her the responsibility and confidence over 15 years to provide care for children with Down Syndrome and to present research in this category. Qattan is the mother of four sons and three daughters. Her love for her profession has had a strong impact on her family resulting in her three daughters studying medical courses.
