Qatari Emir His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani on Thursday named Shaikha Ghalia Bint Mohammad Bin Hamad Al Thani, to head the board of the National Health Authority, the official QNA news agency reported.
Qatar had in December 2003 also named a woman, Latifa Ebrahim Al Huti, as chairwoman of the board of its largest medical institution, the Hamad Medical Foundation.
Two other women, Aisha Ebrahim Al Ansari and Hanan Mohammad Salem Al Kawari, were also named to the foundation's board.
Several women have been appointed to key posts in Qatar in recent years.
The efforts by government to attract nationals to key jobs in government is bearing fruit, said an official.
However, the challenge is not only to educate competent Qataris, but to push them to join the private sector too, said Hadi Al Khayareen, assistant undersecretary for job classification and manpower planning at the Ministry of Civil Services Affairs.
"The problem is not unemployment, but rather the mindset of young Qataris that prefer to wait for a government job rather than take up an opportunity in the private sector. This is the real challenge we have to face to avoid an unemployment problem in the future."
With additional input from agencies
