Health Minister heads Jordan delegation to Denmark meeting on noncommunicable diseases

Health Minister Firas Hawari chaired the Jordanian delegation participating in the high-level global meeting on non-communicable diseases in humanitarian situations, which is currently being held in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. This year's conference is entitled "Building Resilient Health Systems and Leaving No One Behind" and is co-hosted by Jordan and Kenya. In a keynote speech he delivered during the opening of the global meeting, Hawari stressed the need to address the health tsunami facing the world this century, represented by the spread of non-communicable diseases. Hawari said that non-communicable diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, especially in critical humanitarian situations where patients become increasingly vulnerable. He added that Jordan is one of the countries that has been greatly affected by all the political, economic, and health crises in the world for more than seven decades, "as political unrest has swept through our region, leading to waves of refugees." The Hea lth Minister further added that despite receiving more than its share of refugee waves, Jordan has remained committed to fulfilling its humanitarian duty of hosting refugees in a comprehensive and non-discriminatory manner, noting at the same time Jordan's efforts to build a resilient health system that leaves no one behind. He called for concerted efforts and joint work to ensure the commitment of the international community to support the continuous, sustainable, and equitable provision of quality health services to citizens and refugees alike. Hawari stressed the importance of continued support and funding for UN agencies such as UNRWA, warning of the risks of cutting off this funding and its impact on the lives of Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank, and the enormous burden it will add to the host countries, such as Jordan. He explained that Jordan, despite the challenges it faces, has made many interventions to enhgance primary health care and preventing non-communicable diseases by develop ing national strategies, implementing policies that reduce non-communicable diseases, launching monitoring tools, and implementing technical packages, while improving service delivery to Jordanians and refugees alike. Hawari called for supporting asks for an immediate end to the bloodshed in Gaza and the need to allow humanitarian teams, food and medical supplies to enter for the Palestinians. Source: Jordan News Agency