AMMAN — Medical tourism is the key for increasing national income, and has great potential to improve the healthcare system in Jordan, according to Mohammad Al Qudah, assistant to the president of the Jordan University of Science and Technology.

Qudah pointed to the destinations in Jordan, such as the Dead Sea, Ma’in hot springs and more, as well as the health expertise and training centres, which are strong sources of health tourism in the Kingdom.

“The partnership with the tourism sector is very important, as we will rely on it to market what Jordan offers as a health service and to monitor medical performance. The proposed platform for medical tourism will be in a full partnership between the health sector and tourism sector,” Qudah told The Jordan Times during an interview on Saturday.

According to Qudah, the National Economic Workshop session discussed the major challenges facing the health sector, such as the lack of partnership between healthcare institutions.

“During the pandemic, we started to apply these partnerships, which led to better outcomes than expected. Part of the discussions in the workshops was to increase the partnership with these institutions for more integration in providing services for citizens,” he added.

Qudah pointed out that the sector aims to improve healthcare services and provide health insurance for all residents of the Kingdom.

The national epidemiology centre was also part of the National Economic Workshop discussions and they proposed many suggestions to improve preparations for any future pandemic within the existing capabilities, Qudah added.

“The recommendations and suggestions from the workshop sessions mainly revolve around the transition to primary healthcare, where the primary health centres become the gatekeeper of all health services,” Qudah added.

The National Economic Workshop, taking place at the Royal Hashemite Court, continued on Saturday, where the health sector panel discussed the most important actions for the sector’s roadmap for the next 10 years.

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