Mideast: The Successes and shortcomings of jordanian healthcare
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has expanded and developed its public health infrastructure with great success in the twenty-first century. However, it has done so while struggling economically and mitigating risk in an unstable region.
Jordan is an Arab Middle Eastern nation bordering Israel, the Occupied West Bank, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Its population is approximately eleven million, and its GDP is just over 50 million, similar to that of the US state of Wyoming, which has a population of less than one million. Jordan is the second-most water-scarce nation on earth. Each person has an available water consumption of 90 cubic meters per year, placing it well within the UN water poverty definition.
In recent decades, the Levant region, which includes Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria, has been mired in conflict. While Jordan has maintained neutrality and relative peace through much of the chaos, it is too close to the fighting to remain unscathed. For example, Jordan has the second-highest number of refugees as a percentage of its total population globally. Despite these circumstances, the Kingdom has led forward-thinking efforts that have effectively raised the standards of care for all Jordanians.
Life Expectancy At Birth In Similar Regional Economies
Coverage
The healthcare structure in Jordan is three-pronged. The first branch is the public care infrastructure. Two-thirds of hospital beds in Jordan are in public hospitals. While only 70 percent of Jordanians are insured, 80 percent of those insured are insured in the public care system. All children under six and citizen seniors are eligible for public insurance. The second arm of the healthcare system is the private care system. Private hospitals account for the latter third of available beds. Private care makes up the majority of home healthcare capabilities and some specialized care clinics. The third sector is the international aid and development sector-sponsored element of Jordanian healthcare. Especially due to Jordan’s outsized refugee population, international NGOs and UN agencies play a large role in care provision.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency devoted to Palestinian refugees, is a large provider of care in Jordan. They sponsor over one million Palestinian refugees in Jordan to receive care in public and private facilities throughout the nation. UNRWA typically provides a liaison role, assisting refugees financially and logistically to receive care in traditional institutions. Some organizations, like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Medical Corps, provide direct medical care in refugee camps, easing the burden on Jordan’s traditional care network.
Eradicating Leprosy
One of the most recent and concrete markers of Jordan’s progress in healthcare was its successful eradication of Leprosy. The WHO awarded the Kingdom the title of the first country to eradicate Leprosy. Leprosy is a curable infectious disease spread through prolonged proximity to infected persons. The illness spreads quicker in areas with poor sanitation, access to personal protection equipment, and education about preventative hygiene practices. The verification of eradication requires not only successful case prevention but also a robust system to monitor and suppress outbreaks should they reoccur. The second qualification speaks to Jordan’s strong public care network.
In efforts to increase coverage, quality of care, and efficiency, Jordan has invested heavily in e-health infrastructure and data monitoring. Jordan partnered with USAID, the US Government development agency, to launch the Jordanian Kingdom’s Maternal Mortality Surveillance and Response System. Additionally, in 2009, Jordan launched the program Hakeem, a national electronic health database based on the US Veteran’s Affairs platform called VistA. In 2024, the US recommitted to helping the expansion and success of Hakeem with financial and labor investment from the US Trade and Development Agency. These systems of data tracking and reporting are vital to modern health systems. Preventative responses to potential outbreaks or health risks involve exhaustive data gathering and trend tracking. Additionally, the digitalization of healthcare systems also allowed for telehealth solutions which were vital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Center
The King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Center is an institutional centerpiece of the Jordanian healthcare infrastructure. The Jordanian monarchy founded the research project by royal decree in 2001. Currently, Princess Ghida Talal runs the Foundation and Center as the chair of the board of directors. The hospital is massive and has received dozens of accolades and prestigious certifications, leveling it with the finest global cancer care institutions.
The King Hussein Cancer Foundation runs the Cancer Care Insurance program in which people of any age and nationality can subscribe with low annual fees and guarantee exclusive coverage at the King Hussein Cancer Center. For a subscriber over 60 years old, an annual fee of USD 565 guarantees USD 56,497 in coverage. The same coverage for a patient younger than 60 costs only USD 113.
Cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of illness and death in Jordan. HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Leprosy are examples of diseases that do not have a broad impact in Jordan. Jordanians are comparatively well informed about hygiene and highly vaccinated compared to their neighbors in the Middle East and North Africa. However, Jordanians smoke more than anyone in the world, which is one factor contributing to high rates of cancer and other chronic NCDs. The King Hussein Cancer Foundation is a leader in providing global quality care in Jordan and a reason for the country’s success in health outcomes.
Medical Tourism
Jordan is a regional leader in medical tourism. According to the International Trade Administration, Jordan received over 250,000 visitors as part of medical tourism trips prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Quick wait times, low costs, and regarded physicians make it a popular destination for foreign nationals from Gulf countries or elsewhere in the region. The World Bank considers Jordan a leader in the MENA region’s healthcare and a primary destination for medical tourism in the area.
Jordan has strides still to make in the implementation of national health data tracking, accessible care for NCDs, in-home care, and emergency refugee health. However, their many successes deserve recognition and offer lessons to the world in appropriation and efficiency. Jordan is water-scarce, religious, surrounded by war, and economically precarious, and it successfully eradicated Leprosy, hosts cancer patients from around the world at the King Hussein Cancer Center, and is progressing e-health solutions every day. Global observers with an interest in the Middle East should pay more attention to these successes.
