Health Development in
Jordan (on the occasion of the World Health Day)
Health Development in
Jordan (on the occasion of the World Health Day)
The World Health Day corresponds to the occasion of establishing the World Health Organization (WHO) which is a United Nations Specialized agency in health. This organization was established on 7th April 1948. According to its constitution, it aims at enabling all peoples of the world to reach the highest possible health level. The WHO constitution states that health is a case of perfect safety from the physical, mental and social aspects and not merely non-existence of diseases or disability. The WHO member countries totaling 193 practice leadership authority in the organization through the World Health Assembly consisting of representatives of the member countries.
This occasion is celebrated at a time where Jordan has achieved a substantial progress in the health field during the second half of the last century and the present few years of the third millennium. It is worthy to mention here that the number of hospitals has risen from 14 hospitals in 1950 to 98 in 2005. The number of beds has also risen from 464 in 1950 to 10141 in 2005. The development in the health sphere whether in public health or medical specialization had a positive influence on the health conditions of the Jordanian citizen. The great improvement in the social and economic conditions has contributed to elevating the living conditions of the people. This lead to a decline in mortality rates in all age groups particularly among infants and children below five years of age.
The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has declined from 122 per thousand live infant during the period 1950-1955 to 36.8 per thousand live infant in 1990. This rate continued its decline to become 22 per thousand live infant in 2002. The chances of remaining alive have improved considerably as Life Expectancy at Birth for males has risen from 57 years in 1976 to 70.6 years in 2005. The Life Expectancy for females has also risen from 62 years to 72.4 years during the same period.
Jordan has also made significant achievements in the field of mother and child health care. The maternity and childhood clinics have spread all over the regions which contributed to curb many child diseases due to continuous
follow up by the Ministry of Health concerning the necessity to provide the child vaccines and to raise the level of health awareness among mothers. The numbers of maternity and childhood centers have increased from 307 in 1996 to 385 in 2005. Furthermore, the number of comprehensive health centers has risen from 41 to 57 during the same period. The dental clinics have risen from 188 in 1996 to 274 in 2005.
The tangible increase in the numbers of various health utilities lead to a decrease in the number of people per utility. Accordingly, the number of people per bed has decreased from 970 in 1950 to 540 in 2005. The results of the Population and Household Health Survey implemented by the Department of Statistics (DoS) in 1990 have shown that 78.4% of births took place in a health center. The ratio of births under medical observation have risen from 87.2% in 1990 to 99.5% in 2002.
The efforts exerted by the Ministry of Health through the programs and the national anti-disease vaccination campaigns have lead to eradicating many dangerous diseases such as poliomyelitis and diphtheria where no case has been registered since 1995. There was a decline also in the number of cases of dangerous diseases such as measles where the number of cases has decreased from 1212 in 1979 to 28 only in 2005. The vaccination coverage ratio among children has witnessed a considerable improvement where the coverage ratio of the measles vaccination has risen from 45% in 1982 to 100% in 2005. Also, the coverage ratio of the poliomyelitis/third dose from 74% in 1982 to 95% in 2005. No doubt, the rise in coverage ratio of various vaccines given to children indicates clearly to the great efforts exerted by the Ministry of Health in one hand and the spread of health awareness concerning the dangers paused by childhood diseases among households and mothers in particular in the other hand.