Prince Hassan lays foundation stone for new National Diabetes, Endocrinology Centre branch

AMMAN — HRH Prince Hassan, chairman of the Higher Council for Science and Technology, on Monday laid the foundation stone for the branch of the National Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology in the Southern region in Mutah University.

In his speech, Prince Hassan stressed the importance of focusing on partnership, integration and interaction among systems and networking to address critical issues and challenges to health, education, energy, water and the environment, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

For his part, Minister of Health Firas Hawari referred to the ministry’s achievements, in partnership with Mutah University, in transforming Karak Hospital into an educational hospital equipped with the necessary medical specialities from the university’s staff.

Hawari also mentioned cooperation with the Royal Medical Services and the private sector, as well as the operation of the catheterisation unit throughout the week to relieve pressure on the ministry's hospitals in Amman.

President of the Board of Trustees of the Mutah University Youssef Qussous said that the centre’s establishment at the university complements the university’s role as a "beacon of science and knowledge".

The centre is the first of its kind in the southern region, and will provide medical services in Karak and other governorates in the south.

On the sidelines of the ceremony, Prince Hassan met with students and instructors from the university, where he was briefed on entrepreneurial projects within the university, students’ experiences with forming research teams and the university's cooperation with its local and foreign counterparts through the research teams.

During the meeting, the prince stressed the importance of enhancing and increasing cooperation and intellectual and objective communication between universities and scientific institutions to integrate efforts by removing barriers to technological innovation and knowledge sharing.

He renewed the call for an exploratory research network on trends and values, termed the "Arab Barometer".  Prince Hassan also called for the formation of an economic and social council in Mashreq that would make data available to all actors in order to identify priorities and ensure access to information.

The prince also referred to the importance of relying on a knowledge database capable of identifying the capabilities and needs of refugees in order to utilise their capacities to empower and involve them within both refugee and host communities.

Prince Hassan also called for developing the Great Rift Valley, which runs from the eastern Mediterranean through the southeastern Dead Sea and the Red Sea, then south through East Africa, noting that empowering and activating the role of the population of these areas is “a line of defence” for societies against various crises, most notably those pertaining to climate change.

In the presence of Prince Hassan, an agreement understanding and cooperation was signed by the Higher Council for Science and Technology, the National Centre for Research and Development, Mutah University and Al Balqa Applied University, and a coalition initiative to support the state's efforts in food and health security in the southern region of the Kingdom was announced.