Jordan Times
Thursday, October 23, 2008
FDA to open offices in Jordan
next year
By Khetam Malkawi
AMMAN - The US will continue to support and cooperate with Jordan in the health
sector with emphasis on health studies, cancer medication, health education and
the provision of training for workers in the field, visiting US Secretary of
Health Michael Leavitt said Wednesday.
“The US is providing the health sector in Jordan with $20-25 million annually
through USAID” as a contribution to the most pressing needs of the sector in the
Kingdom, Leavitt told a press conference.
As part of this cooperation, the secretary will sign a letter of intent with the
King Hussein Cancer and Biotechnology Centre (KHCBC) during his two-day visit,
he said.
“The agreement [with the centre] will help us with our strategy that focuses on
family health and risk factors threatening Jordanian families and the procedures
to be adopted,” KHCBC Director Sameer Khleif explained during the conference.
He said the US Health Department is currently helping the centre, in cooperation
with the Health Ministry, to draw up a national plan to fight cancer, taking
into consideration “the sensitivity of the disease”, through what is called
“personalised medication”.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) website, personalised
medicine uses information about a person's genetic makeup to tailor products
that will detect, treat, or prevent disease in that person. The goal is to get
the best medical outcomes by choosing treatments that work well with a person's
genetic profile, or with certain characteristics in the person's blood or cells.
The US official also revealed that his agency will open an FDA office in Jordan
next year, an part of a new strategy to guarantee the safety and quality of
goods exported to the US.
“Changes in the global economy have created a new atmosphere in the
international market. Tools should be set to guarantee countries having criteria
for their products, either consumed inside or exported to other countries,”
Leavitt told the presser.
“This is going to be a pre-requisite for the products to have access to our
consumer,” the US official said.