30% of adult Jordanians suffer a chronic illness — cancer centre official

AMMAN — Around 30 per cent of Jordanians over 25 suffer from at least one chronic disease, Firas Hawari, director of the pulmonary and critical care department at the King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC), said Wednesday.

Speaking at the Second Critical Care Medicine Conference, Hawari noted that studies point to an expected increase in the spread of non-communicable diseases in the region, mainly heart conditions, cancers, diabetes and pulmonary ailments, which require critical care services.

"Critical care departments occupy 10 to 20 per cent of hospitals' bed capacity and account for up to 20 per cent of their budgets," he said at the conference, organised by the KHCC, calling for re-examining critical care services in Jordan and offering specialty programmes, in light of the current lack of specialised staff.   

KHCC deals with some 1,400 critical care cases annually that spending an average of four to six days in the centre's critical care Units (CCU), Hawari said.

CCU recovery reaches up to 70 per cent, he added.

The two-day conference, which focuses on the latest findings in various critical care medicine fields, features over 20 local and international specialists, according to Hawari.

Health Ministry Secretary General Daifallah Lozi said Jordan seeks to create a sustainable national programme to develop the quality of healthcare services offered to citizens and visitors who seek treatment in the Kingdom's hospitals and medical centres.

Lozi highlighted the KHCC's local and regional medical excellence, stressing the need to boost partnerships between the private and public sectors to improve medical services in the country.

The event is held in cooperation with the Health Ministry and the Society of Critical Care Medicine, in addition to the Middle East Critical Care Assembly.