Dr. Abdul Samad Abdulla, (1946 – 25 August 2013) was a Maldivian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs until his death in office from kidney failure. He previously served as the Maldivian High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

Career

Abdulla previously served as the Ambassador of the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in 2008 until 2012 where he was appointed as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

. Abdulla had previously been appointed as the acting

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

in 2012 and in 2013. He had also served in numerous roles in the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

Health and death

In 2013, Abdulla was admitted in the

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

Mount Elizabeth Hospital Mount Elizabeth Hospital, known colloquially as Mount E, is a 345-bed private hospital in Singapore operated by Parkway Health. Construction began in 1976 and the hospital officially opened on 8 December 1979. The hospital specialises in card ...

after he got a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. Abdulla travelled to Singapore to undergo

kidney dialysis Kidney dialysis is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions naturally. Along with kidney transplantation, it is a type of renal replacement therapy. ...

. Abdulla unexpectedly died during treatment at 01:20 MVT at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. His funeral took place after Dhuhr prayer in Singapore and he was laid to rest at 14:00 in Choa Chu Kang Cemetery. His funeral was attended by his wife Ameena Ali, his children,

vice president of the Maldives The vice president of the Republic of Maldives () is the second-highest official in the Cabinet of the Maldives, executive branch of the Politics of the Maldives, government of the Maldives, after the president of the Maldives, and ranks firs ...

Mohammed Waheed Deen, family members, and other Maldivians. A funeral in absentia was held across the Maldives after

Asr prayer Asr () is the 3rd of the 5 mandatory five daily Islamic prayers. The Asr prayer consists of four obligatory cycles, rak'a. As with Dhuhr, if it is performed in congregation, the imam is silent except when announcing the takbir, i'tidal, a ...

Legacy

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mohamed Waheed Hassan Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik (; born 3 January 1953) is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 7 February 2012 to 17 November 2013, having succeeded to the office following the resignation of President Mohamed Nashe ...

described Abdulla's death as "national tragedy", and the

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

was flown

half-mast Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a sal ...

for three days after his death. The cabinet held a special remembrance meeting in the memory of Abdulla. Thinadhoo Regional Hospital was renamed to the Dr Samad Memorial Hospital in a recommendation by the cabinet to president Waheed. In November 2013, President Waheed conferred the Order of Izzuddin to Abdulla.

Personal life

Abdulla was married to Ameena Ali and had three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdulla, Abdul Samad 2013 deaths Ministers of foreign affairs of the Maldives Year of birth missing Recipients of the Order of Izzuddin High commissioners of the Maldives to Bangladesh Maldivian politicians Maldivian diplomats 1946 births