Under the patronage of His Excellency Dr Abdullateef Wraikat, the Minister of Health of Jordan, a national adaptation strategy and plan of action to protect health
from climate change was launched by the Ministry of Health at a national event on 6 November, 2012. The key objective of the national event was to present the national adaptation strategy developed by the designated national strategy team in the Ministry of Health comprising six climate-sensitive health issues namely, airborne and respiratory diseases, heat waves, nutrition, vectorborne diseases, occupational health, and water and foodborne diseases.
The development process of the national adaptation strategy involved a thorough assessment of health vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, twenty-four adaptation projects and plans of action, and the development of early warning systems to assess and monitor the effects of climate change on the abovementioned six climate-sensitive health issues.
This national adaptation strategy reflects the commitment of the Government of Jordan towards the implementation of the World Health Assembly Resolution of May 2008 and WHO Regional Committee Resolution of October 2008 on protecting health from climate change.
The workshop was attended by approximately 100 participants representing governmental and nongovernmental agencies, national experts, civil society groups, academic institutes and international organizations involved in the field of environment and climate change-related issues.
The Ministry of Health initiated its work on the development of the national adaptation strategy in July 2011. In his address to the participants, the Minister of Health expressed that the adverse health impacts of climate change present one of the most pressing concerns globally and stressed the need to initiate implementation of the developed strategy. The national adaptation strategy was developed by the appointed six technical teams in the Ministry of Health. H.E. Abdullateef Wraikat said, “The strategy will strengthen the adaptive capacity and preparedness to the negative health impacts of climate change in the Ministry of Health and the Jordanian health sector”. He further emphasized the importance of national commitment towards the strategy’s integration within the Ministry of Health's existing programmes and activities and noted, “This Strategy will ensure prioritization and internalization of adaptation measures to protect health climate change within the strategies of the Ministry of Health”. In order to implement the strategy and ensure its sustainability, H.E. stressed the importance of commitment, advocacy and collaboration between national teams and experts. Furthermore, he stated that the development of the strategy was a pioneer experience in the Region and its implementation would serve as a model for other countries.
The Ministry of Health developed its strategy with technical support, guidance and capacity-building provided by CEHA under the umbrella of the MDG-F Joint Programme. CEHA considers Jordan’s national adaptation strategy a pioneer experience and consequently, will document and share the Jordanian experience with Member States in the Region and globally.
