Project profile — Support to Jordan Health Fund for Refugees

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved provision of quality primary and secondary health services at Jordanian Ministry of Health facilities for Syrian refugees and; (2) expanded use of quality primary and secondary health services at Ministry of Health facilities by Syrian refugees.

Results achieved as of March 2021 include: (1) the Jordan Prime Minister’s office issued a policy that allows Syrian refugees access to the Ministry of Health (MoH) services at the same rate as non-insured Jordanians. The policy to include non-Syrian refugees came into effect as of June 2020. The new policy circulated to relevant directorates and health facilities to ensure all staff’s awareness of the policy and its implications; (2) the production of awareness and communication materials of the new policy and dissemination within MoH health facilities to increase access of Syrians to MoH facilities; (3) the Maternal and Child Health Directorate at MoH regularly conducted awareness activities on various health issues targeting women from the local community regardless of their nationality; (4) the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Al-Salt hospital was equipped with new incubators. This allowed MoH to accommodate the high number of children in need for NICU services among both Syrians and Jordanians and improve the quality of the provided health services; (5) The support provided through the Jordan Heath Fund for Refugees (JHFR) enabled Jordan to become one of the world’s first countries to start COVID-19 vaccinations for refugees. MoH has managed to vaccinate 424 Syrian refugees, representing approximately 11% of the total Syrians registered in the vaccination platform; (6) the JHFR Steering Committee approved a USD $10M allocation to COVID-19 response under its 2020 work plan. This COVID-19 funding helped the MoH expand its testing and case management procedures to monitor infections and provide care for the sick; and (7) the JHFR funded the construction of a new ICU building and surgical department in Al-Bashir Hospital to receive COVID-19 patients and rehabilitated isolation units in two hospitals.