Wael Abou Faour

Wael Abou Faour (born 1972) is a Lebanese politician who served as the Minister of Health.

Wael Abou Faour
وائل ابو فاعور
Abou Faour in 2015
Minister of Industry
In office 31 January 2019 – 20 January 2020
Prime Minister	Saad Hariri
Preceded by	Hussein Hajj Hassan
Succeeded by	Imad Hoballah
Minister of Public Health
In office 15 February 2014 – 18 December 2016
Prime Minister	Tammam Salam
Preceded by	Ali Hassan Khalil
Succeeded by	Ghassan Hasbani
Minister of Social Affairs
In office 13 June 2011 – 15 February 2014
Prime Minister	Najib Mikati
Preceded by	Salim Sayegh
Succeeded by	Rashid Derbass
Personal details
Born	(1972-10-05) 5 October 1972 (age 52) Khalwat al-Kfeir, Hasbaya District, Lebanon
Political party	Progressive Socialist Party
Spouse	Zeina Hamedeh
Children	Leen, Sara, Adham, Walid
Alma mater	American University of Beirut

Early life

Faour was born in 1974 into a Lebanese Druze family.^[1] He is a graduate of the American University of Beirut where he received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.^[2] Abou Faour is married to Zeina Hamedeh and has two daughters Sara And Leen. And two boy twins Adham and Walid.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Faour is a senior member of the Progressive Socialist Party and one of the close aides of party's leader Walid Jumblatt.^[3] He was first elected deputy in 2005 as part of the Democratic Gathering bloc representing the Western Bekaa, Rashaya.^[1] He served at the following parliamentary committees: agriculture and tourism, youth and sports and information technology.^[1] On 11 July 2008, he was appointed state minister in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.^[4] Faour was appointed minister of social affairs in the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati in July 2011.^[5]

Wael Abou Faour revealed during a press conference on 11 November 2014 that many popular restaurants and food chains across Lebanon have been violating food safety rules, which brought about the start of a food safety campaign.

In 2020, Abu Faour sued Wassef El Harakeh, after the latter accused Abou Faour of smuggling cancer medicine to As-Suwayda, Syria during his tenure as Minister of Public Health, which caused shortage in the medicaments for the Lebanese citizens.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]}