Recent health statistics in Jordan show progress in people’s access to and use of essential health services, including maternity and antenatal care and family planning. However, significant shortfalls remain in the quality of services, resulting in poorer health outcomes in Jordan compared to other countries in the region with similar levels of health expenditures. 

Approach

LHSS supports the Government of Jordan’s efforts to institutionalize a mandatory continuing professional development (CPD) system to improve health care professionals’ competencies to deliver quality health services.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH), we will develop the capacity of relevant MOH departments and key national institutions to lead and manage all CPD activities by:

• Strengthen the Jordanian contact tracing system.
• Provide rapid support to improve Jordan's immediate COVID-19 diagnostic capacity and address gaps in Jordan's lab network for infectious disease detection.
• Provide assistance to private and public sector partners for COVID-19 case management and surge support.
• Advocate to develop a legal framework for telemedicine services.
• Provide flexible assistance for emergent COVID-19 response activities.

Progress Highlights

• LHSS organized two learning visits to the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi to provide opportunities for leadership from the MOH and Health Councils to learn from Abu Dhabi’s experience in establishing and managing a CPD system. Participants developed recommendations for streamlining and efficiently implementing the CPD system in Jordan, including the operationalization of the CPD activity standards, implementing an E-CPD system, and recommendations to improve governance structures.
• LHSS completed the CPD Sustainable Finance Strategy which proposes sustainable funding sources to implement the Jordanian Health Professional License Renewal Bylaw. 
• LHSS conducted a national CPD symposium with key Jordanian decision makers and MOH delegates from the Kingdom of Bahrain and Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The symposium served to facilitate a regional exchange of CPD best practices and lessons learned in implementing licensing and re-licensing systems that might be used to strengthen Jordan’s CPD system. 
• With LHSS support, the MOH institutionalized basic and advanced cardiac life support trainings in the Ministry’s annual budget by expanding the American Heart Association accredited trainings offered at its life support training center.