Syria's first lady, Asma al-Assad, has been diagnosed with leukemia, the Syrian presidency said on Tuesday, almost five years after she announced she had fully recovered from breast cancer.
The statement said Asma, 48, would undergo a special treatment protocol that would require her to isolate, and that she would step away from public engagements as a result.
Asma announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018, in what was considered a rare move since the talk of the malignant disease was considered taboo in Arab society. Following her revelation, she received support and wishes of health from her husbands political allies, and condemnation from his opponents. However since her announcement, there has been more awareness of the disease among Syrians including campaigns urging tests for early detection.
Pictures showing her during treatments, with her husband by her side, appeared and in the summer of 2019, Asma said she had made a fully recovery after her illness was discovered early. "This journey is behind me," she said adding that she had tried to maintain a positive attitude and a healthy and active lifestyle as much as possible and that she had gained strength from her children.
Since Syria plunged into war in 2011, the British-born former investment banker has taken on the public role of leading charity efforts and meeting families of killed soldiers, but has also become hated by the opposition.
She runs the Syria Trust for Development, a large NGO that acts as an umbrella organization for many of the aid and development operations in Syria.
Last year, she accompanied her husband, President Bashar al-Assad ,on a visit to the United Arab Emirates, her first known official trip abroad with him since 2011. She met Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the Emirati president's mother, during a trip seen as a public signal of her growing role in public affairs.