Minister of Health Firas Hawari on Tuesday underscored the ministry’s commitment to building impenetrable and equitable health systems that offer mental health services in the Kingdom. He made the remark during a meeting with a delegation of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), who is visiting the Kingdom to conduct a specialized study on investing in mental health in Jordan in cooperation with the ministry and to estimate the costs and health benefits of this investment. The study includes a three-day workshop aimed at strengthening policies and increasing interest and investment in mental health as a top goal of public health and the Sustainable Development Goals. “The study comes at an opportune time to measure the benefits of expanding mental health services and addressing public health challenges,” said Hawari, adding that conducting this study is a leading example of cooperation between the government, international organizations and development partners. He stressed all parties’ commitment to working together to implement the interventions laid out in the investment study and improve mental health services in Jordan. During the meeting, Hawari gave a briefing on the reality of mental health in the Kingdom and the services that the ministry offers, stressing that the ministry is working to improve and facilitate access to mental health services at various levels. He explained that persons with disabilities, including psychological disabilities, are covered by health insurance, enabling them to obtain services from national hospitals and affiliated health centers, including diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, admission to hospitals and follow-up in clinics. He indicated that the ministry, in cooperation with the World Health Organization and the International Medical Corps, has established psychological and community clinics and admission units in a number of hospitals and health centers, to facilitate patients’ access to mental health services, in addition to training health personnel on mental health with the aim of integrating mental health into overall health care services. For her part, Representative of the World Health Organization in Jordan Jamela Al-Raiby, said that strengthening policies and increasing investment in mental health is a top goal for public health and sustainable development. She added that WHO and the Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the UNDP, have formed a specialized team to study the economic feasibility of investing in mental health in Jordan, which offers an estimate for the cost of mental health services that the health sector and national economy will bear. The UNDP’s Resident Representative Randa Aboul-Hosn stressed that mental health is a human right that it is necessary to achieve sustainable development, pointing out conducting such a study is a crucial step to ensuring inclusiveness and access to top-grade mental health services.
Source: Jordan News Agency
