JFDA given until mid-April to improve services for pharmaceutical companies

AMMAN — Public Sector Development Minister Khleef Al Khawaldeh and Health Minister Ali Hiasat set mid-April as a deadline for the Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) to make “tangible” progress in the quality of services offered to the pharmaceutical sector. 

The ministers agreed to provide JFDA with needed cadres of pharmacists and to review the agency’s procedures, according to a Public Sector Development Ministry statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Tuesday. 

The decision follows a recent meeting with representatives of the pharmaceutical sector and JFDA Director General Hayel Obeidat to discuss ways to offer better quality services to the key economic sector. 

Sector leaders urged the JFDA to speed up and ease measures to register drugs in the Kingdom and lessen inspection on manufacturing sites, the statement said. 

They also called for amending regulations governing the JFDA’s work to maintain the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical industry. 

The statement said Khawaldeh and Hiasat held another meeting to discuss a project to match human resources at the agency with the type of duties they are responsible for. 

The ministry said the meeting with pharmaceutical sector representatives was held to follow up on recent Royal directives to facilitate government procedures for key economic sectors.