Jordan
An Eastern Mediterranean country with a single dominant anchor cancer institution, a national strategy, and consumption that remains low regardless.
8 domains reviewed · 7 high-confidence · 0 dated estimates · 8 material gaps
WHO region: Eastern Mediterranean. World Bank income group: Income group not yet retrieved.
- Domains reviewed
- 8 of 9
- Hospice: 4 of 4
- Backed by a primary document
- 0 of 9
- Open questions
- 12
- Sources behind this dossier
- 16
- Newest source 2026
Lessons from Jordan
- Tying hospice enrollment to a documented decision to stop anticancer therapy plus a family goals-of-care meeting gives a clear entry point, though many enrolled patients may keep Full Code status.299
- When one non-profit cancer center provides most hospice care, government coverage of its citizen patients shapes who gets hospice, and uninsured people and refugees may fall outside that coverage.364,365,366
- Counting referral requests that never convert to hospice transfer, and the days from referral to death, gives a simple measure of late hospice entry at a single center.364
- Disclosure planning in Jordan can identify which relatives take part in decisions and ask each patient how much they want to know, since preferences ranged from proactive to gradual disclosure.441
- Pediatric palliative care communication training should address families hiding prognosis from children and children hiding their suffering from parents.632
Palliative care
Is morphine available in Jordan?
Opioid supply. Is a therapeutic opioid physically available in the wards that need it? Every country on this question
- 3.80 mg per person per yearUNDER REVIEW
Opioid consumption, morphine equivalent, Jordan, 202148
Last checked 2026-09-22.
As reported in the 2021 regional atlas. The underlying consumption year is not labelled in the atlas.
Cite this figure:
What share of national consumption runs through the anchor cancer centre?
Help answer it:Search PubMedHow does Jordan regulate opioids for pain?
Narcotics regulation. What licensing regime governs stocking and dispensing, and when did it last change? Every country on this question
Jordan is among the countries in the region reported to hold a national palliative care strategy.49
Who can prescribe morphine in Jordan?
Prescriber authority. Who is legally allowed to prescribe, and can that group be widened? Every country on this question
Is prescribing effectively limited to the anchor institution?
Help answer it:Search PubMedHow does palliative care reach patients in Jordan?
Service delivery. Through what structure does care actually reach a patient at home? Every country on this question
The 2021 regional atlas reports how widely each type of service is spread on an ordinal scale, so those values are not counts and are not shown as counts here.48
How many specialised palliative care services operate in Jordan, and what is the rate per 100,000 people?
Help answer it:Search PubMedWho pays for palliative care in Jordan?
Financing. Who pays for the drug, the visit and the workforce? Every country on this question
Palliative care is included in the basic package and in the national health budget, with private insurance cover recorded alongside.48
How are palliative care clinicians trained in Jordan?
Training and recognition. What credential exists, who awards it, and does anyone recognize it? Every country on this question
Palliative care is recognised as a subspecialty.49
In what year was it recognised, and how many hold the credential?
Help answer it:Search PubMedHow does Jordan prevent opioid misuse without blocking pain relief?
Opioid safeguards. How are misuse and diversion controlled, and are treatment and naloxone available, without blocking pain relief? Every country on this question
Experts reported that oral and injectable morphine are available at all times in Jordan, and opioid access is one of six domains in the 2018 national palliative care framework. Limited opioid access still persists, and 79.6% of oncology health professionals surveyed named patients' fear of addiction as a barrier.49,630,629
Does Jordan offer methadone or buprenorphine treatment and naloxone, and does it run a prescription monitoring program?
Help answer it:Search PubMedHow do children get palliative care in Jordan?
Children's palliative care. How do children with life-limiting conditions get palliative care and the medicines they need? Every country on this question
Jordan's first children's palliative care service opened at King Hussein Cancer Center in 2005, offering outpatient, inpatient and home care with 24/7 phone support. At one tertiary cancer center, parents often hid information from sick children and asked clinicians to do the same, while children hid their suffering to protect their parents.625,632
How many children receive palliative care in Jordan outside King Hussein Cancer Center, and what rules govern consent and disclosure for minors?
Help answer it:Search PubMedHow is palliative care delivered during crises in Jordan?
Syrian refugees with life-limiting conditions in camps and communities reported that palliative care services were often unavailable or inaccessible. Refugees with advanced cancer described war-related trauma, loss of wider family support, and financial crises from rising medicine and treatment costs.633,631
Are refugees in Jordan covered for palliative care and opioid medicines on the same terms as citizens?
Help answer it:Search PubMedHospice care in Jordan
How the hospice model works here, who can use it, who pays and who it reaches. Covered 4 of 4.
What does hospice care look like in Jordan?
Hospice model. What does hospice mean here, who runs it, and in what settings? Every country on this question
Jordanian sources from King Hussein Cancer Center use the joint term hospice and palliative care. The center has provided inpatient, outpatient clinic and home care hospice and palliative care settings since at least 2006, delivered by a team of physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists and spiritual counselors (single center).299,300
Are there hospice services in Jordan outside King Hussein Cancer Center, including government or charitable ones?
Help answer it:Search PubMedWho can get hospice care in Jordan?
Hospice eligibility. Who can enter hospice, on what criteria, and how late do patients arrive? Every country on this question
At King Hussein Cancer Center, hospice enrollment follows the oncologist's judgment that anticancer therapy is no longer beneficial, a formal referral to the palliative team and a family meeting to agree on goals of care. In a 2024 review of readmissions from hospice, 63.8% of patients still had Full Code status (single center).299
How long do Jordanian hospice patients live after enrollment, and are non-cancer patients ever admitted?
Help answer it:Search PubMedWho pays for hospice care in Jordan?
Hospice funding. Who pays for hospice care: a public benefit, insurance, charity or families? Every country on this question
King Hussein Cancer Center, the main palliative and hospice provider in Jordan, is a non-profit center whose staff report that it offers fully government-covered treatment to Jordanian patients. About 35% of Jordanians have no health insurance, and cover is mostly tied to employment. Both statements come from KHCC-affiliated authors.364,366,299,365
How is hospice at KHCC paid for when patients are non-Jordanian or refugees, and does any payer fund hospice outside KHCC?
Help answer it:Search PubMedHow many people reach hospice in Jordan?
Hospice reach. How many dying people use hospice, and who is left out? Every country on this question
Palliative and hospice care in Jordan is limited to specialized hospital units such as KHCC and a few NGOs, and refugees have little access. At KHCC, 151 of 299 adult cancer inpatient deaths in 2017-2018 were under palliative (hospice) care, and 43 oncology patients with a referral request died without transfer. For those who did transfer, the median time from referral request to death was 14 days.366,364,299
What share of all cancer and non-cancer deaths in Jordan receive any hospice care outside KHCC?
Help answer it:Search PubMedWhat fills the gap in Jordan
How people get care outside formal services: families, faith communities, volunteers, health workers, healers, other medicines and charity. Described, not scored.
- Family caregiving
In three Jordanian tertiary hospitals, care decisions typically involved physicians, family members and key figures such as the spouse or eldest male relative. Some caregivers and providers withheld details from patients at the family's request, consistent with a regional review finding families tend to favor concealment.441,443
Subnational evidence
Sources cited here
- 48WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and ICS, Universidad de Navarra.
Assessing palliative care in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 2021. Jordan country profile and regional tables: home care teams, inpatient units, hospital support teams, inpatient hospice and outpatient facilities; opioid consumption in morphine equivalent per head; palliative care included in the basic package and in the national health budget. The consumption figure is reported in the 2021 atlas against 2019 population data; the underlying consumption year is not labelled in the atlas text.
- 49Sanchez-Cardenas MA, Pourghazian N, Garralda E, et al.
Palliative care in the Eastern Mediterranean: comparative analysis using specific indicators. BMC Palliative Care 2022;21:168. DOI 10.1186/s12904-022-01047-7. Expert survey of 12 EMR countries, including Iran, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Pakistan. Iran and Jordan are among the countries reported to have a national palliative care strategy, a designated Ministry of Health officer for palliative care and palliative care recognised as a subspecialty; recognition years are not given. Full text read.
- 630Shamieh O, Alarjeh G, Hammad R, et al.
National Palliative Care Strategy in a Conflict Affected Country: A Jordanian Demonstration Project. J Pain Symptom Manage 2023;67(5):e473-e485. Rapid review of how Jordan's 2018 National Palliative and Home Care Strategic Framework was developed and its five-year impact; authors describe their own process, so self-evaluation. Abstract read.
- 629Ayoub NM, Jibreel M, Nuseir K, et al.
A Survey of Knowledge and Barriers of Healthcare Professionals toward Opioid Analgesics in Cancer Pain Management. Int J Clin Pract 2022;2022:1136430. Cross-sectional survey of 201 health professionals at three oncology units in Jordan on opioid knowledge and barriers. Abstract read.
- 625Mojen LK, Rassouli M, Eshghi P, et al.
Palliative Care for Children with Cancer in the Middle East: A Comparative Study. Indian J Palliat Care 2017;23(4):379-386. Literature-based comparison of pediatric palliative care in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iran from 2000 to 2016; secondary data only, part of an Iranian doctoral thesis. Full text read.
- 631Guo P, Alajarmeh S, Alarja G, et al.
Compounded trauma: A qualitative study of the challenges for refugees living with advanced cancer. Palliat Med 2021;35(5):916-926. Qualitative interviews with 22 refugee patients with advanced cancer and 7 caregivers at two Jordanian hospitals. Abstract read.
- 442Boufkhed S, Yurduşen S, Alarjeh G, et al.
Concerns and priority outcomes for children with advanced cancer and their families in the Middle East: A cross-national qualitative study. Front Oncol 2023;13:1120990. Qualitative study at two pediatric cancer centers in Jordan and Turkey (N=104) including refugee and displaced families; findings are pooled across both countries in the abstract. Abstract read.
- 632Alarjeh G, Boufkhed S, Alrjoub W, et al.
Communication and information sharing with pediatric patients including refugees with advanced cancer, their caregivers, and health care professionals in Jordan: a qualitative study. Front Oncol 2023;13:1118992. Qualitative interviews with 25 children, 15 caregivers and 12 clinicians at one tertiary cancer center in Jordan on communication and disclosure; single site. Abstract read.
- 299Dabbous A, Said A, El Mughrabi A, et al.
Causes of early hospital readmission in hospice patients at a comprehensive oncology center in Jordan: a retrospective descriptive study. BMC Palliat Care 2026;25(1). Single-center retrospective review of 163 readmissions from hospice settings at King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, in 2024; describes the center's hospice enrollment process and settings. Full text read.
- 300Salmany SS, Rayyan M, Dabbous A, et al.
Descriptive study of clinical pharmacist interventions in adult hospice and palliative care at a comprehensive oncology center in Jordan. J Oncol Pharm Pract 2021;28(8):1749-1753. Single-center retrospective study of 27,720 pharmacist interventions across inpatient, outpatient and home hospice and palliative care settings, 2006 to 2019; written by the center's own pharmacists. Abstract read.
- 364Alarjeh G, Alrjoub W, Abdal-Rahman M, et al.
Impact of palliative care integration on end-of-life resource utilization and costs in oncology patients: a single-center analysis in Jordan. Front Public Health 2026;14:1801343. Retrospective review of 299 adult cancer inpatient deaths at King Hussein Cancer Center (2017-2018) comparing oncology and palliative care (hospice) cohorts; states KHCC treats about 60% of Jordan's cancer patients and offers fully government-covered treatment to Jordanians. Single site; authors are KHCC staff describing their own service. Full text read.
- 366Odeh Y, Shamieh O.
Bridging the digital readiness gap in palliative home care: A process to data approach. Digit Health 2025;11:20552076251346380. Process-modeling case study of KHCC palliative (hospice) home care; background section states that units in specialized hospitals like KHCC and NGOs are the only palliative care providers and that refugees have little access. Co-author heads the KHCC palliative care department; access statements are narrative, not measured. Full text read.
- 365Mansour R, Abdel-Razeq H, Shamieh O, et al.
Protecting workers with cancer in low- and middle-income countries: Policy lessons with global relevance. J Cancer Policy 2026;48:100754. Narrative legal review of Jordanian labor and social security law; reports that about 35% of Jordanians are uninsured and insurance is largely employer-linked. Authors from KHCC and King Hussein Cancer Foundation. Abstract read.
- 441Shamieh O, Alarjeh G, Alrjoub W, et al.
Culture sensitive care in oncology care settings in Jordan: a qualitative study. Front Public Health 2026;14:1747462. 108 interviews with patients, caregivers and providers at three tertiary hospitals, 22% of patients and caregivers non-Jordanian, covering family decision making, disclosure and religious framing of cancer. Abstract read.
- 443Bou Khalil R.
Attitudes, beliefs and perceptions regarding truth disclosure of cancer-related information in the Middle East: a review. Palliat Support Care 2012;11(1):69-78. Review of 55 publications from Middle Eastern countries including Jordan and Egypt on family and physician disclosure practices; regional, not Jordan-specific. Abstract read.
- 633Pinheiro I, Jaff D.
The role of palliative care in addressing the health needs of Syrian refugees in Jordan. Med Confl Surviv 2018:1-20. Qualitative interviews with 21 Syrian refugees with life-limiting conditions and 4 caregivers of children in Jordan. Abstract read.