Syrian, Venezuelan talks on strengthening relations in higher education and scientific research


Damascus, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dr. Bassam Ibrahim, met today the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Damascus, Jose Gregorio Biomorgi Muzattiz and the accompanying delegation.

The two sides reviewed the ways to develop ties of scientific and cultural cooperation, through agreements for the exchange of scholarships, exchange of visits by professors and students, and carrying out joint scientific and cultural activities.

Ibrahim highlighted the importance of concluding academic agreements in the fields of higher education and scientific research, and establishing scientific and research relations between universities and institutions in both countries.

For his part, the ambassador expressed interest in renewing the scientific cooperation agreement and working for a scientific agreement project between the University of Damascus and the Venezuelan Research Institute in the fields of health, agriculture and industry.

Venezuela and Syria are united by solid re
lations throughout history and joint agreements in all fields, he added.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

JFDA Implements New Antibiotic Dispensing Measures To Combat Bacterial Resistance

Amman: The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) has introduced a fresh set of protocols to regulate antibiotic distribution, aiming to preserve their efficacy and combat bacterial resistance. These measures will commence in early April.

According to Director General Nizar Mahdiyat, the initiatives align with the National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance 2023-2025 and extend the Foundation’s ongoing efforts since 2017 in this domain.

The implemented measures involve establishing a framework for dispensing injectable antibiotics, categorizing them based on a Watch Group and consulting antimicrobial resistance data (Antibiogram) and expert opinions.

The updated classification mandates the dispensing of controlled antibiotics solely through specialized medical prescriptions and designated dispensing forms. Additionally, public pharmacies will have limited quantities, while certain antibiotics will be exclusively dispensed in hospitals under the supervision of infectious diseases or relevant speci
alists.

Mahdiyat outlined the antibiotics subject to these regulations, including Ciprofloxacin, Levofloxacin, Tobramycin, Ertapenem, Imipenem/Cilastatin, Ceftazidime, Piperacillin/tazobactam, Telcoplanin, Delafloxacin, Vancomycin IV, Meropenem, Streptomycin IV, and Cefepime, while exempting Ceftriaxone, Cefuroxime, and Cefuroxime to maintain local market availability, albeit with stringent dispensing requirements.

These measures, recently published on the JFDA’s website, reflect global trends, respond to limited antibiotic production, and reinforce the Foundation’s oversight efforts, in line with its directives and Antibiotic Dispensing Control Committee recommendations.

Source: Jordan News Agency

As Part of Humanitarian Operation Ordered by HM the King, Bayt Mal Al-Quds Hands Over Equipment to Red Crescent Hospital in Al-QudsBASSIL DURING FPM’S GENERAL CONFERENCE: THE LEBANESE MODEL IS A MESSAGE OF COEXISTENCE, THE GREATEST CHALLENGE FOR CHRISTIANS IS TO ESTABLISH EQUAL PARTNERSHIP

Al-Quds – As part of the humanitarian operation ordered by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, Chairman of the Al Quds Committee, for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the city of Al-Quds, the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Agency handed over complete equipment to the emergency monitoring unit at the Red Crescent hospital in Al-Quds on Sunday.

A statement from the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Agency indicates that this batch of equipment includes office supplies, central processing units (computers), centralized internet units, large display screens, electronic tablets, mobile communication equipment, oxygen bottles, and other materials.

This operation, which took place in the presence of representatives from the Association of Hospitals in East Al-Quds, also involved the distribution of 50 ambulance kits containing 42 pieces of equipment and emergency medicines.

During this operation, a batch of medicines and medical supplies was also handed over to the pharmacy of the Red Crescent hospital and others to the Al Maka
ssed Charitable Association hospital, demonstrating the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Agency’s commitment to fulfilling its obligations and providing constant support to the main hospitals in Al-Quds, essential partners of the Agency in the Holy City.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse

The Free Patriotic Movement organized its annual general conference in commemoration of March 14th, attended by the Movement Chief, MP Gebran Bassil, its vice-presidents and members of the ‘Strong Lebanon’ parliamentary bloc, alongside a crowd of supporters and cadre members.

Addressing the attendees, Bassil said: ‘Our political work requires a lot of communication with people, from within the Movement and the country and from outside and at all levels.’

He added that ‘this effort corrects the image that was distorted by the media assassination campaigns to which we were subjected…’ He considered that the corruption accusations that FPM has faced were due to its reform approach that exposed those who were actually corrupt and who financed the media to distort FPM’s image.

‘They accused us of sectarianism because we are patriots and our demand for a civil state strikes their sectarianism. They accused us of confrontation because we seek understanding and unison,’ Bassil went on.

He continued to stress, ‘
Our choice is the state and coexistence in full partnership, because the state brings us together and organizes our lives and prevents the disintegration of society and institutions and the destruction of national unity, and from here we propose three components: the state and living together within it, unity and partnership, national sovereignty and a defense strategy.”

‘The state is our goal,” underlined Bassil, adding, ‘As for power, it is a means, and the goal is to win the country and preserve the Movement within it, and when power conflicts with the goal, we abandon it and shift to the opposition.’

However, Bassil considered that the only risk of being in the opposition is abandoning FPM’s pioneering role in representing an essential component of the country, stressing that the Movement must not close in on itself but rather combine flexibility in behavior and firmness in principles, i.e. maintaining balance between principle and realism, accepting settlement and rejecting bargains.

The FPM Chief bel
ieved that his Movement ‘must remain the link between the inside and the outside, and as Lebanese we must remain the link between the East and the West, and be free in culture, belief and politics without being isolationist, rejecting and negative.’

Bassil reiterated the Lebanese message of coexistence, considering that the biggest challenge for Christians is establishing equal partnership in the country.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

JFDA Implements New Antibiotic Dispensing Measures To Combat Bacterial Resistance

Amman: The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) has introduced a fresh set of protocols to regulate antibiotic distribution, aiming to preserve their efficacy and combat bacterial resistance. These measures will commence in early April.

According to Director General Nizar Mahdiyat, the initiatives align with the National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance 2023-2025 and extend the Foundation’s ongoing efforts since 2017 in this domain.

The implemented measures involve establishing a framework for dispensing injectable antibiotics, categorizing them based on a Watch Group and consulting antimicrobial resistance data (Antibiogram) and expert opinions.

The updated classification mandates the dispensing of controlled antibiotics solely through specialized medical prescriptions and designated dispensing forms. Additionally, public pharmacies will have limited quantities, while certain antibiotics will be exclusively dispensed in hospitals under the supervision of infectious diseases or relevant speci
alists.

Mahdiyat outlined the antibiotics subject to these regulations, including Ciprofloxacin, Levofloxacin, Tobramycin, Ertapenem, Imipenem/Cilastatin, Ceftazidime, Piperacillin/tazobactam, Telcoplanin, Delafloxacin, Vancomycin IV, Meropenem, Streptomycin IV, and Cefepime, while exempting Ceftriaxone, Cefuroxime, and Cefuroxime to maintain local market availability, albeit with stringent dispensing requirements.

These measures, recently published on the JFDA’s website, reflect global trends, respond to limited antibiotic production, and reinforce the Foundation’s oversight efforts, in line with its directives and Antibiotic Dispensing Control Committee recommendations.

Source: Jordan News Agency

JFDA Implements New Antibiotic Dispensing Measures To Combat Bacterial Resistance

Amman: The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) has introduced a fresh set of protocols to regulate antibiotic distribution, aiming to preserve their efficacy and combat bacterial resistance. These measures will commence in early April.

According to Director General Nizar Mahdiyat, the initiatives align with the National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance 2023-2025 and extend the Foundation’s ongoing efforts since 2017 in this domain.

The implemented measures involve establishing a framework for dispensing injectable antibiotics, categorizing them based on a Watch Group and consulting antimicrobial resistance data (Antibiogram) and expert opinions.

The updated classification mandates the dispensing of controlled antibiotics solely through specialized medical prescriptions and designated dispensing forms. Additionally, public pharmacies will have limited quantities, while certain antibiotics will be exclusively dispensed in hospitals under the supervision of infectious diseases or relevant speci
alists.

Mahdiyat outlined the antibiotics subject to these regulations, including Ciprofloxacin, Levofloxacin, Tobramycin, Ertapenem, Imipenem/Cilastatin, Ceftazidime, Piperacillin/tazobactam, Telcoplanin, Delafloxacin, Vancomycin IV, Meropenem, Streptomycin IV, and Cefepime, while exempting Ceftriaxone, Cefuroxime, and Cefuroxime to maintain local market availability, albeit with stringent dispensing requirements.

These measures, recently published on the JFDA’s website, reflect global trends, respond to limited antibiotic production, and reinforce the Foundation’s oversight efforts, in line with its directives and Antibiotic Dispensing Control Committee recommendations.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Statistics Department Reports High Public Access to Statistical Data

Amman: The Department of Statistics reported that 96 percent of statistical data was made available to the public, with only 4 percent remaining unavailable.

In its 2023 annual data monitoring report released on Sunday, the department disclosed receiving 633 requests for statistical data throughout the year.

The report highlighted the second quarter of 2023 as the peak period for data requests, comprising approximately 26.6 percent of the total, while the third quarter saw the lowest demand. Demographic and social data accounted for the highest demand at 46.9 percent, followed by economic data at 36.5 percent. Economic data was the most sought-after category on the department’s website, constituting 44.1 percent of all data requests.

Researchers topped the list of data requestors at 28.6 percent, followed by the private sector at 21.6 percent, with media professionals showing the lowest demand at 1.9 percent. Comparing data requests over the past five years revealed that 2019 had the highest number of requ
ests at 1,322, followed by 2020 and 2021 with 962 and 867 requests respectively. However, 2023 saw the lowest number of requests at 14.2 percent.

The Department of Statistics said it is currently working on launching the National Interactive Data Center, aiming to digitize all data requests for easy access by researchers on their computers or tablets.

Source: Jordan News Agency