Health in Jordan

Life in Jordan has many good points for health. In 2021, people in Jordan could expect to live about 74 years. Almost everyone, 99%, has clean water and places to keep waste, even though Jordan doesn't have a lot of water. There are also enough doctors, with 203 for every 100,000 people, which is similar to many wealthy countries.

Jordan has done well in fighting some diseases. Since 2001, Jordan has been free of a disease called malaria. Cases of tuberculosis, a serious lung illness, have dropped by half since the 1990s, though it is still a problem. Like many places, Jordan also deals with noncommunicable diseases such as cancer.

Children in Jordan are getting better health care. Over the past 15 years, more children have been protected from diseases through immunizations and vaccines. By 2002, more than 95% of children under five had these protections.

Overall, Jordan is doing a good job with health for its level of resources. It meets most of what is expected for children and adults, though there is still work to do.

Health care

Jordan has a good health care system, but most services are in Amman. The government spends money on health, about 7.5 percent of its money. Some groups say it was even more, around 9.3 percent.

Jordan’s health care has public and private parts. The public side has health centers and hospitals run by the Ministry of Health, plus some hospitals run by the military and a university hospital. The private side also has many hospitals.

Electronic health records

In 2009, Jordan decided to improve its healthcare system by creating a national electronic health record system. They chose a system used by the US Veterans Health Administration VistA EHR because it worked well for large countries. In 2010, three big hospitals in Jordan started using this system. The plan was to roll it out quickly and cheaply to many more hospitals and clinics.

In 2007, about 70% of people in Jordan had health insurance. The government wanted to reach 100% by 2011, but by 2017, this goal had not been met and coverage was still around 70%.

The King Hussein Cancer Center is the only center in the Middle East that specializes in treating cancer. It is known as one of the best cancer treatment centers in the world and treats patients from many countries.

See also Electronic health record

Medical Tourism

Many people from other countries visit Jordan for medical care. In 2008, about 250,000 people came to Jordan for treatment.

Jordan is a popular place for medical treatment. In 2007, over 250,000 patients from other countries chose Jordan. Costs in Jordan are often lower than in places like the United States. The World Bank said Jordan was the best place for medical tourism in the Middle East and North Africa, better than Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Israel.