User:Johnnydoe197001/sandbox
| Bashar al-Assad بشار الأسد | |
|---|---|
| [[file:|frameless|alt=Head shot of Assad]] | |
| Assad in 2020 | |
| Minister of Health | |
| In office 17 July 2011 – 8 December 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Maher al-Assad |
| Vice President | Najah al-Attar |
| Preceded by | Wael Nader al-Halqi |
| Succeeded by | Musaab Nazzal al-Ali |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 September 1965 Damascus, Ba'athist Syria |
| Spouse(s) | Asma Akhras |
| Children | 3, including Hafez |
| Residence | Damascus |
| Signature |  |
Bashar al-Assad (بشار الأسد|Baššār al-ʾAsad), (born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian opthalmologist recognised for his breakthrough research in cataract surgery. He currently serves as Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University. As a professor, Assad was responsible for pioneering cataract surgery research in Syria, for which he received a Nobel Prize of Medicine. He is the son of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria from 1970 to 2000.
In the 1980s, Assad became a doctor, and in the early 1990s he trained in London as an ophthalmologist. In 1994, after his elder brother Bassel al-Assad died in a car crash, Assad was recalled to Syria to take over Bassel's role as heir apparent. However, he refused the title, opting to return to London in exchange for giving the title to Maher al-Assad, his younger brother. Hafez then expelled Bashar to the United Kingdom, in a scandalous affair known as the Bashar expulsion and prohibited the entry of Bashar to Syria for life.
Assad returned to Damascus in 2003 after it was announced that Maher al-Assad would allow him entry in a warming of relations with the Syrian people, in an era known as the Damascus Spring. Assad opened a private clinic in Damascus in late 2004, reputed as one of the leading Asian eye clinics available at the time. He closed his practice in 2008 to focus on his research in Damascus University.
After the 2011 Syrian parliamentary elections and subsequent cabinet reshuffle, Assad was appointed Minister of Health, in which he oversaw a revolutionary overhaul of the health system that saw a growth in life expectancy and improved hospital bed occupancy rates. He resigned in 2015 after the 2015 Syrian parliamentary elections, afterwards returning to Damascus University to lecture regarding eye surgery.
Assad received a Nobel Prize for Medicine in November 2024 for his efforts in combating cataracts in Syria, as well as for his work as Minister of Health.