The President of Yarmouk University, Dr. Nabil Al-Heilat, inaugurated the activities of the symposium “The Development of the Pharmaceutical Sector and the Pharmaceutical Industry in the Kingdom”, which was organized by the College of Pharmacy as part of its celebrations of the centenary of the founding of the Jordanian state. The Director of the Jordanian Food and Drug administration, Dr. Nizar Al-Muhaidat in addition to Dr. Hanan Al-Seboul; the general secretary of the Jordanian Federation of Pharmaceutical Producers and Dr. Ahmed Al-Rasasi, representing the community pharmacies.
In a speech he delivered at the opening of the symposium, Al-Heilat said that Yarmouk University has come a long way thanks to the cumulative, effective, and continuous effort, and worked in a team spirit with management, faith, and institutionalism, as we realize that the university’s success in achieving its goals requires the combined efforts of all its academic and administrative cadres.
He expressed his happiness to host the participants in this symposium from the pharmaceutical sector and the pharmaceutical industry, especially since Al-Yarmouk University is keen to consolidate cooperation in the areas that contribute to the advancement of its academic programs and be a window from which our dear students overlook the reality of the labor market, which provides them with basic skills and principles that enlighten their future. Their practical future after their graduation, stressing the university's keenness to support the College of Pharmacy to be one of the leading national pillars in supplying the local and Arab labor market with qualified pharmaceutical cadres.
In her turn, the Dean of the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Mervat Al-Sous, said in her speech that human care is not complete without concerted efforts and strengthening and the integration of the responsibilities and duties of the health and pharmaceutical sectors, pointing out that Jordan is one of the leading countries in the field of pharmaceutical sciences at the academic level and at the level of the pharmaceutical industry, which is considered one of the leading countries in the field of pharmaceutical sciences. The most important local industries because of the accumulation of practical and scientific experiences of Jordan's pharmaceutical cadres, which are spread all over the world.
She added that Jordanian companies have taken the lead in spreading in the Gulf countries and the world thanks to the attractive environment for scientific research, experimentation and testing in the pharmaceutical sector, and they have had the lead in developing the local industry and its contribution to economic growth, noting that in light of the tremendous development of scientific and technological research methods, it has become an obligation for us in universities and in Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies and research and development centers for networking with each other to integrate the circle of pharmaceutical knowledge. If scientific research and development is the basis of progress, then our universities should be the base for this research and an incubator for researchers, scientists, and innovators.
Al-Muhaidat spoke during the symposium about the development of the pharmaceutical regulatory sector in Jordan, reviewing that since the establishment of the Jordanian Food and Drug Administration in 2003, , it seeks to ensure the safety and quality of food, the safety and effectiveness of medicine and related materials through policies and legislation based on international standards and characterized by transparency and participation, pointing out that the institution is the only entity in Jordan concerned with drugs, as it is responsible for it from the beginning of its manufacture as a raw material and during all stages until obtaining it as a preparation ready for use by the patient, stressing that the main objective of the Directorate of Medicine is to ensure the safety, quality and efficacy of the drug (whether manufactured locally or imported) and to provide it to the citizen at an appropriate price. By following up on pharmacological studies conducted on humans and monitoring them at all stages, in addition to following up the import and export of locally manufactured medicines, imported medicines, and slavery Executing and inspecting all pharmaceutical establishments, including pharmacies, warehouses, and pharmaceutical factories, monitoring narcotics, psychotropic substances and drugs raw materials, issuing the required licenses and permits, and following up on the rational use of medicines and the side effects of medicines.
Al Muhaidat also spoke about the history of pharmaceutical manufacturing in the Arab world, and Jordan which established the Salt Pharmaceutical Factory in 1964, reviewing the pharmaceutical forms manufactured in Jordan, pointing out that the volume of Jordanian exports of medicines until the end of May of 2021 amounted to 205.2 million dinars, and that the size of the Jordanian drug market is estimated at 1.3 billion dollars, while the global market for medicines is estimated at more than 1.4 trillion dollars.
He said that Jordan spends more than 3% of its gross domestic product on medicines, but the pharmaceutical sector suffers from poor spending on research for developing its products, so the percentage of its expenditures on research does not exceed 2%.
Al-Sebool spoke during the symposium on the pharmaceutical industry in Jordan, pointing out that the pharmaceutical industry in Jordan is one of the important and vital sectors and constitutes a major supporter of the national economy, noting the strength of this sector, especially since Jordan is one of the countries in which the presence of any medicine has not stopped since the start of the Corona pandemic that affected all sectors in the world, especially the health sector, reviewing the challenges faced by pharmaceutical companies and factories in Jordan during the pandemic, noting that despite the many obstacles faced by the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector during the previous stage, Jordan’s exports of medicines remained continuous and uninterrupted, praising the distinguished supervisory level of the Food and Drug administration in Jordan undertakes on the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in order to maintain and protect the quality of the Jordanian product, and to protect the Jordanian citizen alike.
For his part, Al-Rasasi spoke about the pharmaceutical practice and community pharmacy in Jordan, stressing the importance of the pharmacist’s role in completing the patient’s treatment process by dispensing the medication accurately and providing the correct information to the patient about how to use the drug, the recommended dosage and times of taking the drug, reviewing the factors behind the growing need to develop Pharmaceutical practices, especially with the spread of patients' use of drugs over the counter without physician’s prescriptions.
