Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health has awarded Pakistani doctor Zia Ullah Khan Dawar a medal to acknowledge his work as one of the ‘captains’ of the country’s COVID-19 team.
Dawar, a public health specialist, has been residing in Saudi Arabia for the past four years. He worked on programs to stem tuberculosis, dengue fever and malaria. He is now working with the country’s health ministry in Jeddah with a COVID-19 surveillance and data analysis team.
Speaking to Arab News, Dawar said that it was proud moment for him and the country.
“Saudi Ministry of Health gave awards to doctors and health professionals in recognition of 100 days of their services in fighting against the virus and I am one of the foreign doctors [awarded]. I am feeling so proud to get the recognition of my services. I come from North Waziristan so it is not only an honour for me but [also for] my area and for Pakistan.”
“We were working in a mobile team which is a challenging and risky job,” Dawar added. “Whenever any positive case was reported, we immediately had to go to the site and do the needful.”
Saudi Arabia has reported over 235,000 COVID-19 cases so far.
