On the 7th of April 2025, Jordan and the world will observe the World Health Day, launching a year-long campaign titled "A Healthy Start for a Brighter Future", aimed at raising awareness about the importance of maternal and newborn health. The campaign emphasizes intensifying health efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, while prioritizing women’s long-term health and well-being, in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.
The Higher Population Council’s commemoration of this day underscores that maternal and newborn health are fundamental pillars for healthy families and societies. From 2010 to 2023, Jordan recorded approximately 2.9 million births, who now constitute about a quarter of the population. Statistics also revealed a sex ratio at birth of 105 males per 100 females. Thus, providing high-quality maternal and child healthcare services within robust health systems contributes to securing a brighter future for all. In this context, the HPC has prepared a position paper titled "Ensuring Healthy Lives and Promoting Well-Being for All at All Ages", which will be presented at the 58th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development which convened in New York from 7–11 April 2025.
The HPC underscores that maternal and newborn health relies on fundamental pillars for health, including preventing child marriage (under 18 years), which constituted around 15% of first marriages between 2010-2023); ensuring comprehensive healthcare throughout all pregnancy stages and promoting marriage at an appropriate age - a direct factor in maternal wellbeing, as 4.6% of Jordanian women deliver their first child before age 18. Additional critical measures encompass proper pregnancy planning, health education, balanced nutrition, and early detection/management of chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension) and breast cancer. These interventions collectively safeguard the health of mothers and newborns.
Moreover, adhering to prenatal care guidelines - such as regular medical check-ups (ultrasounds, blood tests, blood pressure monitoring), proper nutrition, mental health support, and preventing complications like preeclampsia and gestational diabetes - is crucial. Ensuring safe delivery in a medical environment under specialist supervision, managing emergencies like bleeding, preterm birth, or unnecessary cesarean sections (which accounted for 43% of deliveries in Jordan in 2023), and providing psychological support during labor are all vital aspects of maternal and neonatal health.
Additionally, postpartum care plays a key role in improving maternal health outcomes. This includes monitoring the mother’s recovery - both physical and psychological - promoting exclusive breastfeeding (which is notably short-lived in Jordan, with a median duration of less than one month), and providing access to appropriate family planning methods for women who wish to space or limit pregnancies. The unmet need for family planning in Jordan stands at 11%. When accounting for those relying on traditional contraceptive methods, the proportion of couples in need of an effective modern method to achieve their reproductive goals rises to 33%.
Regarding newborn health, proper neonatal medical care - including the initial post-delivery checkup, essential vaccinations, monitoring of physical and cognitive development, and adequate nutrition - is critical. Exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months is of particular importance. However, the 2023 Population and Family Health Survey revealed that only about 24% of infants under six months rely on exclusive breastfeeding, underscoring the urgent need to promote this practice. Complementary feeding after six months, screening and treatment of malnutrition, infection prevention through proper hygiene, and management of early childhood illnesses - such as jaundice, diarrhea, and respiratory infections - are all essential measures to improve neonatal and child health outcomes.
Regarding advancements in the healthcare sector, Jordan has made significant efforts over the past two decades to develop its health system, enhance its efficiency, and expand access to comprehensive, high-quality healthcare. The country has embraced technology and digital transformation in its healthcare system by automating maternal death records and launching an electronic system for reporting births and deaths. This contributes to improved health responses and evidence-based policymaking.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Health’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan includes a dedicated focus on primary and preventive healthcare. This pillar aims to enhance equitable access to quality healthcare services through active community engagement, prioritizing maternal and child health. Key initiatives under this plan include adopting public health and preventive medicine models, implementing a family health approach in primary care, improving service quality, and controlling the emergence and spread of communicable diseases. Additionally, the plan targets reducing the prevalence of non-communicable diseases while strengthening reproductive health, family planning, and child health services. These improvements have been reflected in key health indicators, including a rise in life expectancy at birth to 75.3 years in 2023, a reduction in under-five mortality to 15 deaths per 1,000 live births, a decline in maternal mortality ration to approximately 24 deaths per 100,000 live births, and a decrease in under-18 marriages from 17% in 2017 to 11% in 2023.
Despite the availability of enabling factors and opportunities that have supported Jordan's efforts in providing maternal and newborn health services - such as supportive legislation and national strategic frameworks - issues related to maternal and child health, as well as sexual and reproductive health, require significant attention, particularly during crises and emergencies. This is due to the increased risks of mortality and morbidity associated with such periods, including higher rates of unplanned pregnancies, inadequate antenatal and postnatal care follow-up, malnutrition, and childbirth-related complications.
It is important to note that reproductive health services face several key challenges, including limited integration between reproductive health programs and primary healthcare services in health centers, as well as obstetric and gynecological services in hospitals. Additionally, there is inadequate healthcare infrastructure and disparities in the quality of services across different geographical regions. Women, in particular, encounter difficulties in accessing certain healthcare services, compounded by low awareness of available counseling and reproductive health services. Furthermore, women's ability to participate in critical family decisions concerning their health and well-being - such as family planning - remains limited.
The Higher Population Council emphasizes the importance of adopting the "Family Health Model" within primary healthcare, and stresses the need to operationalize the objectives of the National Reproductive Health Strategy 2020-2030 through targeted programs and initiatives. These should comprehensively address all components of reproductive health while promoting the well-being of all family members.
