National Medicine Policy 2014.

This ten-years National Medicine Policy (NMP) is the second edition of a sectoral document aiming to define and unify the components of the national medicine policy, clarifying the factors affecting drug and pharmaceutical sectors in Jordan, both public and private, in order to reach the best possible level of healthcare by providing medicines regulated according to criteria of safety, efficacy, quality and medical need. Main objectives of the policy are (i) ensure the availability of safe and effective medicines at the lowest possible prices for the population which meet approved standards, specifications, in accordance with genuine health needs and accompanied by a sufficient and reliable information; (ii) ensure efficient and effective drug management in the public and private sectors; (iii) promote the rational use of drugs by prescribers, dispensers and consumers; (iv) promote the local pharmaceutical manufacturers technical, productive and marketing capacities for making it competitive for local and export markets; (v) ensure that all drugs in the national drug distribution system are safe, efficacious, effective and of good quality; (vi) strengthen administrative, legislative, and regulatory controls of the importation, manufacture, procurement, storage, distribution, supply, sale and use of drugs; (vii) ensure a mechanism for the systemic collection and analysis of data on the use, medical need, performance (safety, efficacy and adverse drug reactions) and quality of medicines in the market; (viii) promote operational research for the effective implementation of the National Drug Policy; and (ix) enlist government commitment at all levels for the achievement of the goals and objectives of the National Drug Policy and to consider this Policy as an integral part of the National Health Policy.
This document includes the following key components (i) Selection of Essential Medicines aiming to have a national list of medicines rationally chosen to satisfy the priority health care needs and to ensure that those pharmaceutical products are available through the health care system; (ii) Affordability, to ensure that effective and safe medicines of good quality are accessible and affordable to the entire population; (iii) Drug Financing to ensure that funds are available for the regular supply of needed medicines, medical devices and consumables, including measures to reduce waste, increased funding for priority diseases, and the poor and disadvantaged; (iv) Supply System to ensure the safest and most cost-effective delivery of medicines, medical devices and consumables through public, private and non-governmental organizations’ supply system; (v) Drug regulation to ensure that medicines are produced, imported, exported, distributed, supplied, promoted and clinical trials of medicines conducted according to specific criteria; (vi) Rational Use of Medicine to ensure that patients receive medicines appropriate to their clinical needs; (vii) Research and Development to encourage and support ethical, scientific and field research in the pharmaceutical sector and facilitate the effective implementation of the National Drug Policy; (viii) Human Resource Development to develop highly qualified and experienced professionals in the public and private sector; (ix) Technical cooperation between countries to reduce substantially illicit drug trafficking and to contribute and benefit from experiences and scientific knowledge gained in other countries in the field of pharmaceuticals; and (x) Monitoring and evaluation to ensure the successful implementation of national medicine policy.
In particular, the rational use of medicine provides for educating all health personnel involved in the diagnosis, prescription and dispensing of drugs, as well as consumers, to receive adequate theoretical and practical training in rational drug use. At this end, it calls for development of policies to address the problems of antimicrobial resistance and misuse of antimicrobials, using WHO and other international best practice guidelines. A section dedicated to herbal and traditional medicines requires (i) a rational use of herbal medicines; (ii) investigation of traditional medicines, particularly herbal medicines for efficacy, safety, and quality; and (iii) encouragement of the development of a “Code of Practice” by herbal medicine practitioners.
To make agriculture more productive and sustainable, the Policy promotes controls also on veterinary drugs complying with ethical veterinary practices, and government shall ensure the effective monitoring of drug utilization in this sector.
To enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural systems, the Policy interventions are directed to (i) increase the government funding for priority diseases, and the poor and disadvantaged; (ii) promote the domestic industry’s technical, productive and marketing capacities for making it competitive for local and export markets; and (iii) strengthening the role of civil society through the involvement of experts from health civil society in the technical committees in the Food and Drug Administration.
As for the Governance, the Policy implementation shall be guaranteed by (i) the formation of a committee comprising all institutions concerned with medicine on the managerial and executive levels to activate the dialogue and the creation of integration between these institutions; (ii) sharing information about medicines and its availability in the manufacturers and wholesalers between the Food and Drug Administration and the Joint Procurement Department and the Ministry of Health, through electronic connectivity; (iii) computerization of information about pharmaceutical institutions and licenses pharmacists in the Directorate of professions and licensing of the Ministry of Health and link it with the Food and Drug Administration and update it constantly; (iv) enhancement the efficiency of the inspection of pharmaceutical institutions and study the possibility of unification of the supervisory authority; and (v) ensuring periodic and regular publication and wide dissemination of the list of registered drugs.