Mai Salem Hanna al-Kaila (; born 8 April 1955) is a Palestinian physician, diplomat and politician, and the first woman to hold the position of health minister of Palestine. She holds a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

and

health administration Health administration, healthcare administration, healthcare management, health services management or hospital management is the field relating to leadership, management, and administration of public health systems, health care systems, ho ...

. She chaired the Palestinian Medical Council in her capacity as health minister. She is also part of the Palestinian Authority headed by current prime minister Dr. Mohammad Mustafa.

Background

Mai al-Kaila was born in Jerusalem on 8 April 1955. She received her basic and preparatory education in the schools of

Birzeit Birzeit (), also Bir Zeit, is a Palestinian Christian town north of Ramallah, in the West Bank. Its population in the 2017 census was 5,878. Birzeit is home to Birzeit University and to the Birzeit Brewery. Location Bir Zeit is located north ...

, and her secondary education at the Private College in

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

. She studied nursing at the

Augusta Victoria Hospital The Augusta Victoria Compound is a community hospital and church complex on the northern side of the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem; the hospital is one of six which form the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network. The compound was built in 1907 ...

in Jerusalem. She studied medicine at the

University of Granada The University of Granada (, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apart from the city of Granad ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and obtained a bachelor's degree from it, then she specialized in the field of

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

and

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the Female reproductive system, female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obste ...

in the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

and obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

. She obtained her PhD in Public Health and Epidemiology from the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

Career

Al-Kailah worked as a resident physician at the Palestine Red Crescent Hospital in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in the Obstetrics and Gynecology program. Mai Al-Kailah has promoted jobs and positions, as she worked as a lecturer at

Al-Quds University Al-Quds University () is a public university in the Jerusalem Governorate, Palestine. The main campus is located in Abu Dis town, near Jerusalem, with three more campuses in Jerusalem and other campuses in Ramallah and Hebron. It was establish ...

in the Public Health Department, and at

UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, pronounced ) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians who fl ...

as head of the Motherhood and Childhood Program. In 1994, Mai Al-Kailah was appointed to the Palestinian delegation to participate in the

World Conference on Women, 1995 The Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace was the name given for a conference convened by the United Nations during 4–15 September 1995 in Beijing, China. At this conference, governments from around the ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Alkaila was appointed as the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Chile on 31 October 2005. She continued to serve in that role until her appointment as Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Italy on 1 October 2013. On 4 December 2016, she won the Palestinian Revolutionary Council elections, which were held during the seventh conference of

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

, and became a member in it. On 13 April 2019, al-Kaila took the constitutional oath before

Palestinian President The president of the State of Palestine () is the head of state of Palestine. Yasser Arafat became the first titular president of the State of Palestine in 1989, one year after the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. The title was origina ...

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

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 ...

within

Mohammad Shtayyeh Mohammad Ibrahim Shtayyeh (; born 17 January 1958) is a Palestinian politician, academic, and economist who served as Prime Minister of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian National Authority from 2019 to 2024. On 26 February 2024, he and h ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, serving in that position until 28 March 2024.

Honors

* In 2017, Mai al-Keila was awarded a gold medal by the

Norman Academy The Norman Academy (Italian: ''Accademia Normanna'') is an organization established for the promotion of the Arts and Letters, Humanities and Human rights defense throughout the world, incorporated in the State of Florida, United States. It operates ...

in cooperation with the

Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...

; this is due to her activism and defense of Palestinian human rights.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaila, Mai Living people 1955 births People from Birzeit Academic staff of Al-Quds University Palestinian women academics University of Chile alumni University of Granada alumni University of California, San Francisco alumni Palestinian women nurses Palestinian women physicians 21st-century Palestinian physicians Women government ministers of the Palestinian National Authority Ambassadors of Palestine to Italy Ambassadors of Palestine to Chile Palestinian women ambassadors Expatriates in Spain Palestinian expatriates in the United States Health ministers of Palestine 21st-century Palestinian women politicians 21st-century Palestinian politicians 20th-century Palestinian physicians Recipients of Italian civil awards and decorations 21st-century Palestinian diplomats

Background

Career

Honors

See also

References