‘Medical sector deeply affected by regional unrest’

AMMAN — Jordan is among the most advanced Arab countries in the medical sector, with more than 18,000 hospital beds and 21,000 doctors, specialists said on Sunday.

However, the country’s healthcare sector has been deeply affected by the Arab Spring uprisings and the accompanying demographic impact on the refugee-burdened Kingdom, the experts said at a conference that opened at the Dead Sea on Sunday.

The two-day regional conference on health insurance in the Arab world, organised by the Jordanian Society for Health Insurance (JSHI), gathered 250 experts and specialists from several Arab countries, a JSHI statement said.

During the inauguration ceremony, JSHI President Ali Wazani said the number of physicians in Jordan has decreased from 46 to 39 per 10,000 people, with the ratio of hospital beds also going down from 27 to 23 per 10,000.

The statement quoted Wazani as saying that the “unprecedented” hikes in prices of medical services in Jordan and the entire Arab region was due to the rise in the energy bill. 

“If it continues like that, excellent healthcare will become a luxury for the majority of Arab citizens,” he warned.    

Jordan Insurance Federation President Othman Budair said health insurance covers 26 per cent of the total insurance sector in Jordan with the value of premiums increasing from JD117 million in 2012 to JD128 million in 2013.