MEDEVAC Programme in Jordan
In terms of migration, Jordan is a very important partner for the EU. Nearly half a million Syrians fled to Jordan during the conflict in Syria. More than 100 thousand of them live in the Zaatari Camp, which is situated in the north of the country, just below 20 km from the border with Syria. The Zaatari Camp has become the largest camp with Syrian refugees in the region.
Since the beginning, the MEDEVAC Programme focused particularly on helping the refugees from the Zaatari Camp as well as on developing governmental healthcare facilities in order to increase the quality of health care in Jordan’s regions with the aim of improving the availability of high-quality health care to poor residents of Jordan, too.
Jordan is the main country, in which we have been operating since as early as 2013. The first mission was focused on helping children with congenital heart defects. At that time, a medical team from the Motol University Hospital successfully operated on 6 child patients in the Al Khalidi hospital in the capital city of Amman. At the same time, two additional patients were selected who were subsequently transported to the Czech Republic for surgery. In autumn 2013, the government approved continuation of the programme for humanitarian evacuations of inhabitants affected by health problems (MEDEVAC) for citizens of the Syrian Arab Republic. Medical missions and their specialisations gradually grew to include orthopaedics, plastic and reconstructive surgery, traumatology, ophthalmology and ENT. A total of 8 Czech hospitals (the Motol University Hospital, the Bulovka University Hospital, the Brno University Hospital, the General University Hospital, the Olomouc University Hospital, the University Hospital Hradec Králové, the Central Military Hospital, and the University Hospital Královské Vinohrady) and 5 Jordanian hospitals, all being based in Amman (Al Khalidi Hospital, Al Makassed Charity Hospital, Palestine Hospital, Eve Shami Center, Shmaisani Hospital) became involved in the MEDEVAC Programme in Jordan. A medical team specialising in ophthalmology has been active since 2015 up until present. Members of this team focus on cataract surgeries in that segment of population who would otherwise be unable to afford this treatment. Thus, the Programme not only helps provide a qualified care in a country where health care is very costly but also helps reduce the strain on the Jordanian healthcare system. The professionalism of Czech experts is greatly appreciated by Jordanian partners and, above all, by patients whose lives have been significantly improved by the team.