The Diplomat
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Government of Jordan signed an agreement yesterday to strengthen, through European funds, primary health care for Jordanian nationals and refugees.
The European Union has approved, for this purpose, an allocation of 22 million euros from the European Regional Trust Fund for the Syrian crises (EURTF Madad), which will be managed by AECID and the Jordanian Ministry of Health for a period of three years, The agreement was signed in Amman by the Jordanian Minister of Health, Feras Ibrahim Hawari, and the AECID coordinator in Jordan, Santiago Morán, in the presence of the Spanish Ambassador to Jordan, Aránzau Bañón Dávalos, and the Head of Cooperation of the European Union in the country, María Hadjitheodosiou.
The program provides for investments in training of medical and health workers, equipment and infrastructure in the Ministry’s basic health clinics in the regions of Ajloun, Mafraq and Tafilah, as well as prevention activities and community participation and improvement of medical procedures at the national level to address non-communicable diseases and their risk factors. AECID has granted an additional €500,000 to the Ministry of Health to support the decentralization of basic services.
Non-communicable diseases account for about 80% of morbidity and mortality in Jordan and their negative impact on the well-being of the population is increasing rapidly in recent years, affecting Jordanians and refugees alike. European and Spanish funding will be managed mainly by the Jordanian Ministry of Health and will be complemented by technical assistance and exchange with the Spanish National Health System, as well as complementary grants to support community awareness and engagement through different private organizations and Jordanian NGOs with expertise in this field.
