7th international allergy congress held

AMMAN — More than 35 per cent of Jordan’s population has suffered from allergies, whether temporarily or chronically, President of the Jordanian Society for Allergy and Immunology Hani Ababneh told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

During the 7th International Jordanian Congress of Allergy and Immunology held in Jordan on Wednesday, Ababneh also said that there are over a billion people who suffer from allergies in the world, which is why the society is working on establishing a national electronic database of foods and materials that cause allergies in Jordan.

Deputising for HRH Princess Muna, Health Minister Saad Jaber opened the three-day congress on Wednesday, which was held by the society at the Jordan Medical Association, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In his opening speech, Ababneh said that 420 million people in the world suffer from what is known as “hay fever” or scientifically known as “allergic rhinitis” while 335 million people suffer from asthma, pointing out the society’s aims at exchanging expertise with advanced countries to reduce treatment costs for allergy patients. 

The society also aims at bringing devices that measure the level of dust and allergy-causing materials in the air in order to install unified protocols for diagnosis and treatment, in addition to making available injections called EpiPen that could save the lives of those who might suffer from a sudden and deadly allergic reaction. 

The congress included 13 sessions with 57 research papers in the fields of immunology and allergies, as well as the use of stem cells, with the participation of researchers from the US, Romania, Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and Libya. 

More than 400 doctors from the Royal Medical Services, the Ministry of Health, Jordanian Universities, the King Hussein Cancer Centre and the private sector took part in the event, Petra added.