The Private Hospitals Association in cooperation with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the USAID-funded Health Service Delivery (HSD) program, organized an introductory workshop to representatives of private hospitals on the “National Maternal Mortality Surveillance and Response (MMSR) System”. The introductory workshop was also attended by Dr. Sabry Hamza Chief of Party / Health Service Delivery (HSD), Dr. Fawzi Al-Hammouri, Chairman of the Private Hospitals Association and Mr. Daniel Sinclair, Director, Office of Population & Family Health / USAID Jordan.
In his opening remarks Dr. Al-Hammouri stressed the importance of this workshop that addresses maternal mortality saying: “Statistics show that 300,000 women die annually due to maternal related issues worldwide, and 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries, and the most important fact is that 90% of these deaths can be avoided”. He Added: “In Jordan statistics are not very accurate as they show that in 1995 we had 41 maternal deaths per 100,000 deliveries, and in 2005 this number decreased to 19 deaths per 100,000 deliveries, whereas the WHO statistics show that in Jordan there are 58 deaths per 100,000 deliveries. This discrepancy urged the government to pass Bylaw 10 of the Public Health Law No. 47 of 2008, mandating the reporting of all deaths among women of reproductive age (15 – 49) from all health sectors in Jordan.
Subsequently, MOH and USAID established The National Maternal Mortality Surveillance and Response (MMSR) System, which will be an important tool to assist the health sector and decision makers in preventing avoidable maternal deaths.
On his part Dr. Sabry Hamza Chief of Party / Health Service Delivery (HSD), addressed the attendees saying Jordan is well equipped to implement such a national surveillance system especially after it had succeeded in implementing other systems such as Cancer and Thalassemia surveillance systems.
During the Workshop PHA chairman Dr. Fawzi Al Hammouri acknowledged the efforts of Dr. Sabry Hamza Chief of Party / Health Service Delivery (HSD) and Mr. Daniel Sinclair, Director, Office of Population & Family Health / USAID Jordan for their efforts in establishing and implementing this national surveillance initiative and presented them with shields of honor.