Refugees putting pressure on health services

The increasing number of Syrian refugee women using reproductive health services in Jordan is putting additional pressure on the Kingdom’s health system, a UN official said on Sunday. “We have to ensure that the Syrian women who are in Jordan, whether in [holding] facilities or within the communities, have access to reproductive health services,” said Muna Idris, the UN Population Fund’s (UNFPA) assistant representative in Jordan. However, to prevent any impact on the Kingdom’s health system, the UNFPA is providing these women with reproductive health kits and established a clinic at the Bashabsheh facility in the border city of Ramtha, where many refugees are staying, Idris added. She noted that the UNFPA has secured $500,000 to assist Syrian women and will ask for extra funds from donors. In cooperation with the health ministry and other NGOs, “we provide women in the Cyber City and Bashabsheh complexes with a ‘dignity kit’ that contains basic health needs and we provide them with services through clinics in Ramtha as well,” Idris said at a media gathering on Monday where she also outlined the eighth cycle of UNFPA’s programme in Jordan, which covers the next five years. According to the UNFPA official, the objectives of the programme were developed in accordance with national development priorities, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, and the UNFPA strategic plan, as well as an evaluation of the previous cycle. The major priorities of the 2013-2018 cycle are population dynamics, maternal and newborn health, gender equality and reproductive rights. Idris also noted that this year’s World Population Day, which is observed on July 11, will have the theme “Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services”.