Health minister, NAMRU-3 official discuss cooperation

AMMAN — Health Minister Feras Al Hawari and US Commander of Naval Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3) in Cairo Samuel Levine on Wednesday discussed ways to advance cooperation in the field of communicable and infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance surveillance, insect-borne diseases and the genetic sequence of some novel infectious diseases.

Hawari emphasised the importance of this cooperation and expressed appreciation of the unit’s role in supporting the ministry’s laboratories in disease diagnosis and surveillance, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The two sides agreed to extend cooperation for an additional five years, notably in the fields of surveillance for Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI), influenza-like respiratory illnesses, hospital-acquired infections, vector-borne diseases, bacterial response for antibiotics, among others.

In 2006, the ministry and NAMRU-3 launched a surveillance system of respiratory diseases, which led to the establishment of a database that helps identify the start and end of the flu season and respiratory infections.