A new Doctor to Doctor meeting to discuss and exchange latest scientific findings in the management of the Covid 19 pandemic was organized on 16 July by the Order of Malta together with Forward Thinking, a London based think tank. The virtual meeting – taking place over an online platform – was convened with representatives from Jordan which, as a result of strict measures and a swift implementation of tracking systems, has experienced a significant decrease in the number of Covid 19 cases detected since the onset of the disease. As stated by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Ammar Shorafa, who attended the meeting, the casualties registered so far in the country are below figure 1,200 on a population of nearly 10 million people.
The meeting brought together an important Jordanian delegation including high ranking officials from ministries and directors of health institutes and hospitals of the Hashemite kingdom, as well as doctors and physicians from Saudi Arabia and the US, in addition to medical experts of the Order of Malta. The two Ambassadors of Jordan to the Order of Malta and of the Order of Malta to Jordan also attended the event.
As noted in the meeting, the enforcement of three principles allowed for a timely and effective management of the pandemic in its early days, these being: good governance, an aggressive contact tracing system and effective control in the management of cases. This approach paved the way to the minimization of the infections noted some of the attendees.
The Doctor to Doctor project was launched in April amid the wave of infections in Italy and in many European countries with the objective of promoting best practices in the scientific field and in the management of hospitalized patients. The purpose of these discussions is to address the most pressing challenges each country is facing in this unprecedented moment in time and to share best practices. Meetings have taken place also with health officials and doctors from Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen and South Africa.
