Jordan Times
Monday, August 23, 2004
US department of health
delegation to visit Jordan
AMMAN (JT) — A delegation from the United States Department of Health and Human
Services will be visiting Jordan this week to meet with officials in the
Jordanian Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) and the Ministry of Health.
US Secretary of Health and Human Service Tommy G. Thompson decided to dispatch a
delegation to Jordan following discussions with Minister of Health Saeed
Darwazeh and JFDA Director General Salah Mawajdeh, according to a statement
released by the embassy of Jordan in Washington, DC.
The trip to Jordan follows a number of videoconference sessions between the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and JFDA, coordinated by the Economic and
Commerce Bureau at the embassy.
The visit will focus on strengthening regulatory aspects of the JFDA,
particularly in the area of pharmaceuticals. The two health ministers began
talking about collaboration in health during Thompson's visit to Jordan in June,
and continued the discussions during Darwazeh's recent visit to the United
States at the invitation of Thompson, the statement said.
During his visit to the US, Darwazeh discussed with US officials ways to improve
food and drug regulatory capacity based on Jordan's vision to meet the food and
drug safety needs of the Jordanian people.
The US delegation will include a member of Thompson's Global Health Affairs
staff and senior technical and management officials from the US FDA and FDA
Alumni Association. During the week-long stay in Amman, the delegation will tour
pharmaceutical manufacturers, clinical research organisations, the King Hussein
Cancer Centre, and the National Drug Quality Control Laboratory, and meet with
the pharmacy faculty at Amman University, as well as hold extensive meetings
with their JFDA counterparts.