RIYADH: The Kingdom and Jordan have signed an agreement to share health-care expertise and technology with each other.
Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and his Jordanian counterpart Nayef Al-Fayez signed the agreement in Riyadh on Sunday.
Al-Rabeeah told reporters that the program would initially focus on health services at the King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh and Prince Hamzah Hospital in Amman.
“This is a partnership formulated in the interests of the two institutions,” he said.
According to the agreement, the two medical institutions will exchange expertise in areas such as education, training, and treatment. Health professionals from the two countries will also participate in research projects of benefit to the two countries, Al-Rabeeah added.
“Saudi Arabia has state-of-the- art health facilities and services. We are pleased to join hands with another country in the region to share our expertise to benefit the people of both countries,” said Al-Fayez, who also met Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on Saturday.
Al-Fayez added that under the agreement, Jordanian physicians would visit Saudi Arabia for specialist training courses at a newly developed center for organ transplants.
Both parties approved an executive plan for enabling Jordanian medical and technical staff to help operate 14 hospitals in northern Saudi Arabia.
“The first step will include field visits by a joint team to the northern hospitals to have a first-hand look at their specializations and the staff needed for them,” Al-Fayez said.
“The Ministry of Health, Royal Medical Services, university hospitals and private hospitals will contribute to fulfilling these hospitals’ needs.”
Al-Fayez said Saudi Arabia had also expressed readiness to train Jordanian medical units on its specialist intensive care program for children.
He added that the Kingdom is also set to increase its imports of Jordanian drugs, currently estimated at 100 million Jordanian dinars a year.
