AMMAN— Achieving comprehensive health care coverage by 2030 is one of the
national priorities, said Firas Al-Hawari, minister of health, according to the
Jordan News Agency, Petra.
اضافة اعلان
Hawari made
those remarks during a conference held at the Dead Sea by the Jordanian Society for
Health Insurance (JSHI) and titled “Towards a comprehensive health cover in Jordan”.
Hawari said
that His Majesty King Abdullah’s directives to Prime Minister Bisher
Al-Khasawneh is to include more people in health insurance programs, adding
that the different governments in Jordan adopted mechanisms for social and
financial protection for citizens.
The
protection was provided through the Ministry of Health by providing partial
insurance for normal health cases reaching 80 percent. The government also provides
free health care for those suffering from diseases that require prolonged and
expensive treatment, like cancers, renal failure, and chronic blood diseases,
according to the minister.
The ministry
also provides maternity and pediatric care through its national vaccination
program, in addition to providing a network of health care centers to provide
its services through, Hawari said.
He said that
Jordan has also been able to include around 650,000 children in free health
insurance, in addition to those over 60 years old, as well as blood and organ
donators.
The Statistics Department conducted a study that found that those who
receive health care amounted to 72 percent in 2018, according to Hawari, who
also said that the number of beneficiaries from the National Aid Fund and the Social
Safety Network have increased.
However, former
prime minister Omar Razzaz, who attended the conference, said that Jordan’s
journey toward comprehensive health care cover started decades ago, adding that
those efforts have not come to an end as yet.
Razzaz said
there is political willingness to achieve comprehensive, just, and sustainable
health care in Jordan.
For his
part, former health minister Saad Jaber said that Jordan spends around 8.2
percent of its GDP on health care, which he said is a high percentage. Jaber
also pointed out that the government would support health insurance
subscriptions based on each family’s monthly income.
Jaber said that the ministry of health spends around JD2.5 billion each
year to provide unique health services for citizens.
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