Nayrouz News Agency : The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) issued a joint statement that urges governments to keep trade in health technologies and supplies open, and Jordan happens to do just that, according to the government.

The statement said: "COVID-19 has rapidly progressed to become a global pandemic, causing unprecedented, far-reaching impact on the health, social and economic well-being of communities around the world. Global, coordinated action is required to deal with the extraordinary challenges the pandemic poses to people’s health as well as their livelihoods.”

Related to coordinated action is His Majesty King Abdullah’s remarks to American news channel CBS, in which he said that the Kingdom is working on exporting medical equipment as well as sending doctors and nurses to countries that currently need medical support.

His Majesty added: "We hope that in the coming weeks, depending on our capabilities, we can export medical equipment to neighbouring countries and the world. Jordan is one of the best countries in the pharmaceutical and medical potentials in the region, and we have already started exporting masks and medicine to other countries. Our private sector is working to increase its production capacity.”

Minister of Health Saad Jaber also said in a recent press conference that Jordan "went from producing no masks to potentially producing more than one million masks within the coming few weeks, covering the Kingdom’s needs as well as exporting them to other countries”.

Although Jordan is working on expanding its trade in health supplies, WHO and WTO’s joint statement said that their efforts to fight the pandemic around the world has been impeded by "unnecessary disruptions to global trade and supply chains”.

The organisations said that "governments’ trade policy decisions significantly influence both getting medical equipment and supplies to where they are urgently needed… Keeping trade in health technologies as open and predictable as possible is, therefore, of vital interest. This will help countries to respond to this crisis, to recover from it and to build the health systems that will foster greater resilience in the future”.

While the WHO and WTO’s statement said that normal cross-border flow of vital medical supplies and other goods and services must be ensured, with "unnecessary disruptions to global supply chains” resolved, the Kingdom’s supply of medicine has remained stable, according to the Jordan Food and Drug Administration.

The administration noted previously that Jordan’s supply of medicine for chronic illnesses as well as other essentials is "sufficient and undisrupted, as local factories produce more than 91 per cent of drugs in the local market”.

The WTO reiterated that it is currently "providing governments with the flexibility they may need to address essential medical supply shortages and/or public health challenges”.

The organisation added: "Governments need to avoid measures that can disrupt supply chains and negatively impact the poorest and most vulnerable, notably in developing and least developed countries that are typically reliant on imports of medicines and medical equipment.”