The Minister of Health, Dr. Firas Al-Hawari, affirmed that Jordan can no longer bear the pressure on the health sector and its costs without thinking of new, more realistic, effective, and scientific solutions to raise the efficiency of the health system, which prompted the Ministry to establish new scientifically advanced strategies to raise its efficiency, and overcome the challenge of the number of beds per family. thousand people in Jordan, including the establishment of a virtual hospital.

Al-Hawari added, during a seminar organized by the Jordan News Agency (Petra), that the Jordanian health sector is witnessing development in providing services to all, in addition to implementing and studying projects to establish a number of new hospitals and introducing technology to the health system. On the other hand, the sector still faces challenges of overcrowding, especially In light of the low number of beds per thousand people.

Dr. Al-Hawari presented the most prominent procedures of the Ministry in developing the infrastructure and its working cadres to meet the health needs of the population, due to the pressure of forced migrations that reached Jordan over the past 100 years, the latest of which was the Syrian crisis and the entry of one million and 300 thousand refugees into the Kingdom.

He stressed that the Ministry is moving towards translating the government’s royal directives to develop and improve the citizen’s health care, by providing decent health services for patients, especially by opening hospitals within the possible, expanding the introduction of technology to the health sector, automating electronic files in all hospitals, and upgrading the level of primary health services. Provided in health centers, improving the efficiency of the sector through an electronic system for supply chains and medicines, and participatory with the Royal Medical Services, universities, the private sector and civil society institutions.

New hospitals

And he indicated that the establishment of new hospitals is costly for the state treasury, which necessitates finding alternative plans to deal with overcrowding, by improving primary health care provided in health centers, based on the principle of family medicine.

He explained that Jordan is witnessing the establishment of new hospitals, including Princess Basma Hospital in Irbid governorate with a capacity of 550 beds, which can be expanded to 650 beds, with a completion rate of 55 percent, and a study is being conducted to establish two new hospitals in the governorates of Mafraq and Madaba, and a military hospital in Zarqa governorate with a capacity of 400 beds, and a military hospital. another in Ma’an governorate, and a university hospital with a capacity of 300 beds through the Saudi-Jordanian Investment Fund Company, in addition to supplying existing hospitals; Such as Al-Hussein Medical City and Al-Bashir Hospitals with new departments and buildings.

Virtual hospital

Al-Hawari revealed that the ministry is working in cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship to study the establishment of a virtual hospital to reduce the admission of patients to central hospitals, and to provide similar health care, indicating that the virtual hospital that is intended to be established is an electronic hospital that provides health care services through the application of modern technologies and techniques. Virtual health care, and deals in its infancy with the specialties of radiology, intensive care, and dialysis, and it will also be linked electronically with major hospitals in the Kingdom, and works to reduce the need to transfer cadres to peripheral hospitals or transfer the patient there to other hospitals, where the specialist doctor reads pictures and medical examinations It produces the report and sends it to the doctor in the peripheral hospitals.

Telemedicine system

He pointed out that the virtual hospital needs legal regulation through the telemedicine system, and it is passing through its legislative stages with the legal committee in the prime minister’s office.

He added that two years ago, he completed about 40 legislation (laws, regulations, instructions) to organize work and facilitate service recipients, including amending the health insurance system, organizational structures for hospitals, the ministry’s administrative organization system, amending the private hospital system, and preparing a new strategy for the ministry for the three years (2023). -2025).

Declining international support for countries hosting Syrian refugees

On the other hand, Al-Hawari warned of the decline in the international community’s support for countries hosting Syrian refugees, which negatively affects the sustainability of the health sector’s resilience, refusing to compromise on the health sector’s sustainability and resilience.

He stressed the importance of the financial support provided to Jordan for hosting refugees, noting that during his recent visit to Geneva he spoke with the President of the World Health Organization and the regional director of the organization, on the need to continue supporting refugees in Jordan by the World Health Organization and other donors to support the priorities of the Jordanian health sector.

Al-Hawari stressed the need for the international community to assume its responsibilities towards the refugees in Jordan, in order to preserve the achievement made by the health sector in the Kingdom, especially since the effects of the Syrian refugee crisis are still present, and constitute a major challenge and burden on the Jordanian health system and national health indicators.

He added that the number of beds in the Jordanian health sector decreased due to refugee crises, per thousand people, as it decreased during the past decade from 1.8 to 1.42 beds per thousand people, due to the refugee crisis in Jordan and the entry of one million and 300 thousand Syrian refugees.

He explained that 10 percent of the Syrian refugees live in camps, and the rest are in the various Jordanian cities and governorates, and despite the economic pressures that have been exacerbated by the Corona pandemic and the Ukrainian crisis, Jordan continues to provide basic services to Syrian refugees that are provided to Jordanians, especially medical services that are subsidized by 85 percent to non-Jordanians. Healthy believers.

-(Petra)