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Summary: Jordan

In 1996, Jordan developed its own health strategy and a national health policy, as part of a national comprehensive socio-economic development plan. The strategy needs to be updated to take into consideration new challenges facing the health system and changing health problems.

The level of national pharmaceutical expenditure, which accounts for about the third of the total healthcare expenditure is more comparable with an OECD rather than a middle-income country figure, and will prove difficult to sustain in the spite of a growing population and a relatively low economic growth.

Jordan has the best intellectual property rights laws of the region, a pool of skilled low-cost workers and reliable pharmaceutical plants. Competitive advantages exist in the area of antibiotics, anti-ulcerants and in new niches such as hormone production, AIDS and cancer drugs, herbal and biotechnology medicines. According to the World Bank, Jordan offers the best level of access to healthcare in the Middle East, and its private sector offers a high standard of services.

Through the liberalisation of trade laws, the government secured a membership in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union. The more stringent regulatory environment, along with strong domestic competition and the existence of excess capacity has pushed smaller producers out of the market and led the industry as a whole towards a state of consolidation.