Minister of Health Nathir Obeidat Monday said a proposal is currently under consideration to introduce universal healthcare insurance and set up a unified referral entity involving multiple stakeholders.

This will be managed by the Ministry of Health and involve the Social Security Corporation.

During a virtual meeting with members of the Country Status Report 2020, Obeidat said that the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the health system was enormous and affected the implementation of many of the 2019 report's recommendations.

The head of the Coronavirus Portfolio Wael Hayajneh said due to system automation, securing beds for patients is no longer an issue.

He said the government should look into strengthing preventive medicine and pay more attention to chronic diseases after the pandemic ends.

Meeting participants stressed the need to increase the number of resident doctors, as well as expand residency programs and general specialties to back up subspecialties. They added that the report should include a study of the causes of the setbacks that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic after the initial success achieved by the Ministry of Health at the beginning of the crisis.