Local

AMMAN — HRH Prince Feisal, the Regent, on Sunday discussed means to boost cooperation between Jordan and the European Union, especially in economy-related areas.

During a meeting with European Parliament President Martin Schulz and an accompanying delegation, discussions also focused on current regional developments, mainly the Middle East peace process as well as the latest developments in Syria, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, said.

Prince Feisal highlighted the drive towards comprehensive reform in Jordan, led by His Majesty King Abdullah. He also highlighted the burdens the large number of Syrian refugees is posing on the country’s resources and infrastructure as Jordan currently hosts more than 600,000 Syrian refugees.

Schulz stressed the EU’s commitment to boosting the “strategic partnership” with Jordan, underscoring the King’s role in fostering peace and security and lauding the humanitarian services the Kingdom provides for Syrian refugees, according to Petra.

Also on Sunday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour met with the EU Parliament delegation and discussed ways to strengthen the Jordan-EU ties.

Meanwhile, the Group of the European People’s Party (EPP) at the European Parliament convened a meeting at the Dead Sea with participants from Euro-Med countries.

Addressing participants at the meeting, Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh stressed the importance of arriving at a peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis, on the basis of the two-state solution with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Organised by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the meeting seeks to boost the Euro-Mediterranean network, coordinate its activities and expand cooperation between the north and the south.

EPP President Joseph Daul and Euro-Med representatives expressed their appreciation of Jordan’s efforts to help the Syrian refugees and its support for the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Founded in 1976, the EPP is a centre-right political group in the European Parliament, which works to arrive at a democratic, transparent and efficient Europe that is close to its citizens.

The EPP is the largest political organisation in Europe with over 70 member parties from 40 countries.

AMMAN — A study conducted among Palestinian refugees who have diabetes showed that approximately 90 per cent of them are obese.

The study, conducted by UNRWA in Jordan, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank also revealed that 20 per cent of diabetic Palestinian refugees are smokers, which is considered a “dangerously high” rate, according to Margot Ellis, UNRWA deputy commissioner general in the Near East.

The study covered 1,600 patients; 4.3 per cent of the total were affected by type I diabetes and 95.7 per cent by type II diabetes. A considerably high proportion (1,102 or 68.9 per cent) has comorbidity with hypertension.

The majority (1,109 or 69.3 per cent) were females, according to the study.

The high proportion of female patients is a reflection of the general patient population at UNRWA health centres, the study said.

Of the total 1,600, 3.9 per cent, received lifestyle support only, 95.6 per cent received diabetes medicines and 0.5 per cent received treatment from non-UNRWA health facilities.

Late complications were found among 204 patients (12.8 per cent).

In 2011, over 114,000 diabetic Palestinian refugees were registered with UNRWA health centres in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and the numbers are “steadily increasing by 3 to 5 per cent every year”, according to Ellis.

UNRWA recently started implementing healthcare reform by introducing the family health team approach, which is a family and person-centred approach “to provide comprehensive primary healthcare at UNRWA health centres”, Ellis said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times, adding that this approach is essential for chronic, lifestyle-related conditions like diabetes.

“Most importantly, the approach improves efficiency of healthcare while focusing on the specific needs of refugee patients,” she explained.

The study conducted in four of the UNRWA areas on diabetes patients will address different challenges and assess the quality of diabetes care in the agency, according to Ellis, who noted that this study is the first step of a three-year project supported by the World Diabetes Foundation.

“The findings of the diabetes clinical audit will be used to define a strategy to improve technical and managerial capacity within UNRWA’s health services and to increase diabetes awareness amongst Palestinian refugees. Our ultimate aim is to save more lives and to protect all diabetic refugees from complications that may lead to disability,” she noted.

AMMAN — With the region’s water deficit projected to triple to 130 billion cubic metres by 2030, water demand management must be incorporated in water strategies, a senior government official said on Sunday.

The expected deficit will necessitate projects estimated to cost Arab states $200 billion by 2030, which will place further burdens on the region in terms of raising necessary funds and retrieving the project costs, Water Minister Hazem Nasser said.

“Because water sources in the Arab world are expected to drop by 20 per cent during the next two or three decades due to climate change, it is imperative for countries in the region to ensure sustainability of the existing water resources,” the minister added at the opening of a workshop on integrated water resources management in the southern Mediterranean region.

Nasser underscored that Arab states, 66 per cent of whose water resources originate from outside the region, must take water demand management into consideration.

“Arab states should reconsider their conventional water strategies, which primarily rely on increasing water resources and to a much lesser extent on demand management,” he said.

The minister suggested involving local communities in the management of water resources, noting that the Kingdom’s experience in this field has been successful.

“Jordan handed over the management of irrigation water distribution in the Jordan Valley to its farmers via water users’ societies as of 2004. Now, 80 per cent of the irrigation water distribution is in the hands of local communities,” Nasser told the participants at the one-day event.

He also urged Arab countries to raise water use efficiency and public awareness on water shortage and its impact on socio-economic growth.

During the workshop, co-organised by the Collective Leadership Institute, the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA), the Arab Network for Environment and Development and the German Water Partnership, organisers launched a project to empower regional civil society networks to take an active role in integrated water resources management in the southern Mediterranean region (ENTIRE).

ACWUA Secretary General Khaldoun Kashman said the
ENTIRE project seeks to strengthen the role of civil society organisations working in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Syria and Tunisia.

Kashman noted that several activities will be implemented by the project, including training selected members on the stakeholders’ dialogue methodology in integrated water resources management.