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UNRWA builds new health centre in Zohour area in Amman

By Johanna Montanari - Aug 14,2019 - Last updated at Aug 14,2019

The new centre will introduce the Family Health Team, which is UNRWA’S new approach to healthcare delivery (Photo courtesy of UNRWA Jordan facebook page)

AMMAN — The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has started construction for a new health centre in Zohour area in Amman. The health centre will be constructed and equipped from donations received from the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), according to a UNRWA statement.

The construction activities started in late July 2019 and the health centre is expected to be functional by August 2020 to improve access to healthcare for over 68,000 Palestine refugees in the area. The new centre will replace the existing one and will introduce the Family Health Team (FHT), which is the agency’s new approach to healthcare delivery, the statement said.

According to the agency’s website, FHT is a “person-centred approach”. Care is delivered by multidisciplinary medical teams made up of at least one doctor, a nurse and a clerk, who provide care to the patients and families registered with them.

As part of the FHT approach, UNRWA has also introduced e-Health, an electronic management system for patient files. The record system before was based on hard-copy folders, according to the website.

“We are very grateful to SFD and the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for this generous contribution which will ensure provision of high quality healthcare services to Palestine refugees in Jordan,” UNRWA Director of Operations in Jordan Mohammed Adar was quoted in the statement saying.

UNRWA stated that its programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, “operates with a large shortfall” due to the growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support, read the statement.

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.4 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

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