AMMAN — HRH Prince El Hassan, chairman of the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST), on Saturday attended the Fourth Jordanian Women Physicians Conference, held under the theme “Unlocking Healthcare Horizons: Train, Retain, Reform.”

 

The event was organised in cooperation with the Royal Colleges of Physicians in London, Edinburgh and England, along with the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), according to the Jordan news agency, Petra.

 

In his address, Prince El Hassan stressed the importance of policy and governance in managing the health system, calling for a national health strategy that prioritizes needs based on evidence-based policymaking. He underscored the need for a single authority to oversee, regulate, and plan health financing across both the public and private sectors, Petra said.

 

The Prince highlighted the importance of establishing a central body to provide guidance and coordination within the health sector, suggesting the reactivation of the Higher Health Council to set collective priorities, avoid duplication, and ensure continued progress.

 

He further emphasised strengthening integration and cooperation across public health programs, proposing the creation of a fund dedicated to crisis monitoring and management through preventive and proactive measures.

 

Prince El Hassan also called for diversifying sources of healthcare funding, including through development endowments that, he noted, are much needed in the Islamic world to empower citizens as active partners in decision-making, according to Petra.

 

On mental health, he underlined the urgency of placing it among national healthcare priorities, pointing to the growing number of Jordanians in need of psychological support amid limited allocations for mental health and community care.

 

Addressing the situation in Gaza, Prince El Hassan condemned the deliberate destruction of the health sector in the besieged Strip, alongside the systematic dismantling of basic means of survival.

 

“Gaza is witnessing every form of killing, from the deliberate targeting of children, to the destruction of housing and shelters, to acts of genocide,” he said. “Yet this must not strip us of our ability to think independently, to analyze, and to respond with wisdom and awareness to our responsibilities,” Petra reported.

 

The Prince stressed that the consequences of what is unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank will not remain confined there, urging collective action and independent, rational analysis of the crisis.

 

The conference also paid tribute to the doctors of Gaza, who continue to carry out their humanitarian duty despite dire conditions and severe shortages of resources, describing their courage as a shining example of the highest ideals of medical duty.