Raed Arafat (; , first name also spelled Rayed; born May 24, 1964) is a Syrian-born

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

intensive care Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes p ...

physician of

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

origin, specialised in

anesthesiology Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critica ...

. He founded the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication (SMURD) with the help from the Romanian Fire Fighting Brigade represented by Lt.-Col Mircea Pintilie. He was also the coordinator of Mureș County Emergency Services until 2007, when he was invited to take the position of Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Health to deal with the development of emergency medical care in Romania. He was also, for a short period, the

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 ...

(7 November — 21 December 2012), serving many years as Under-Secretary of State for Health in the

Romanian Government The Government of Romania () forms one half of the executive branch of the government of Romania (the other half being the office of the President of Romania). It is headed by the Prime Minister of Romania, and consists of the ministries, variou ...

. He accepted the position of Minister of Health just as a temporary position after which he was nominated as State Secretary at the Ministry of Health. In 2014 he accepted the position of Secretary of State at the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

to head the newly created Department for Emergency Situations under which all emergency services are coordinated including fire and rescue, civil protection, prehospital medical emergency response, air rescue and emergency departments. He is still serving at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in this position.

Early life

Arafat was born in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

to a

couple from

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

. He worked as a volunteer in

emergency medicine Emergency medicine is the medical specialty concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (or "ER doctors") specialize in providing care for unscheduled and undifferentiated pa ...

from the age of 14.2006 interview with Raed Arafat
, hosted by

Rompres ''Agerpres'' (stylised in all caps; ) is the national news agency of Romania. History ''Agerpres'' is the oldest Romania, Romanian news agency and the first autonomous agency in Romania. It was established in March 1889 at the initiative of ...

Andi Laslau, , at News4Romania.ro In 1981 he emigrated to

and initially settled in

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș (river), Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in th ...

, where he took

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

classes.

Education

Arafat enrolled at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

. He later moved to the Târgu Mureș University of Medicine, where he underwent specialization in anesthesiology."Raed Arafat" at ''Gala Societăţii Civile''
/ref> He completed a number of specialist courses abroad, training with the

Paris Fire Brigade The Paris Fire Brigade (, BSPP) is a French Army unit which serves as the primary fire and rescue service for Paris, the city's inner suburbs and certain sites of national strategic importance. The brigade's main area of responsibility is the ...

, the

United States National Guard The National Guard is a U.S. state, state-based military force that becomes part of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military's reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, reserve components of the United States Army, U.S. Army a ...

, and the

Norwegian Air Ambulance The Norwegian Air Ambulance Service ( Norwegian: ''Den norske luftambulansetjenesten'') is organised through the government owned limited company Luftambulansetjenesten HF (formerly ''Helseforetakenes Nasjonale Luftambulansetjeneste ANS''). The ser ...

Career

Following the 1989 Revolution, Arafat contemplated leaving for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, but his application was rejected, so he concentrated instead on creating an emergency service in

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

(which he originally financed with personal funds). In 1991, he created SMURD, a mobile emergency service which began collaborating with the Romanian firefighting service and the

Fire service A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, working for it as a volunteer until 1998, when he gained Romanian citizenship.

Politics

In late 2005, his project to have SMURD function as an additional rescue service at a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

level was passed into law, but raised opposition from the physician and

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician

Sorin Oprescu Sorin Mircea Oprescu (; born 7 November 1951) is a Romanian independent politician and medical doctor who previously served as Mayor of Bucharest between 2008 and 2015. Political activity Oprescu first ran for Mayor of Bucharest in 1998 backed ...

, who had drafted an alternative proposal. Geta Roman
"Ayatollah-ul Arafat l-a învins de urgenţă pe feudalul Oprescu"
in ''

Cotidianul The logo used between 2003 and 2007 ''Cotidianul'' (meaning ''The Daily'' in English) is a Romanian-language newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern E ...

'', October 25, 2005 A reference to Arafat as "the

Ayatollah Ayatollah (, ; ; ) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy. It came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Originally used as a title bestowed by popular/clerical acclaim for a small number of the most di ...

of Romanian emergency medicine" and the stress he placed on the latter's country of origin brought Oprescu to the attention of the

National Council for Combating Discrimination The National Council for Combating Discrimination (, or CNCD) is an agency of the Romanian government, established in 2001 and responsible for applying Romanian and European Union anti-discrimination laws and managing the National Anti-Discrimina ...

. Irina Dimiu
"«Hobbyul meu: să salvez oameni»" (interview with Raed Arafat), p.2
in '' Avantaje'' A

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...

instructor, he coordinated international lectures on the matter in several countries (including

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and the

United States 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 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

). In 2003, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Merit of Romania (a Grand Officer since 2005). Since August, 2009, he has held the position of Under-Secretary of State for Health. He resigned from this position on January 10, 2012, as he expressed criticism on the health system reform. After a series of protests in several cities, the government announced changes to the reform plan, and Dr Arafat returned to his post as Under-Secretary of State. In late 2012 he was Romanian Minister of Health, then came back to his charge as undersecretary in the same ministry.

References and bibliography

* A. Todea, F. Maria, M. Avram, ''Oameni de știință mureșeni – Dicționar biobibliografic'', CJ Mureș Biblioteca Județeană Mureș, tipografia Mediaprint SRL, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Arafat, Raed 1964 births Living people People from Damascus Syrian people of Palestinian descent Romanian people of Palestinian descent Romanian people of Syrian descent Romanian Muslims Romanian anesthesiologists Palestinian emigrants to Romania Palestinian refugees Ministers of health of Romania Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy alumni Recipients of the Order of Honour (Moldova) Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Romania)