An-Najah University donated a piece of land in the village of Salem east of Nablus to the Palestinian Ministry of Health for the purpose of establishing central medical stores on it.

The cornerstone for the medical stores was laid on Wednesday, October 19th in a ceremony that was organized under the auspices of His Excellency Dr. Fathi Abu Mughli, the Palestinian Minister of Health, Prof. Rami Hamdallah, President of An-Najah, and Mr. Frederic Desagneaux, French Consul General at the French Consulate General in Jerusalem. Other attendees included: Mrs. Anan Attireh, Deputy Governor of Nablus, Engineer Adli Yaish, Mayor of Nablus, in addition to representatives of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development (PECDAR), directors of a number of hospitals and representatives of the health sector in Palestine.

Prof. Hamdallah delivered a speech in which he expressed his happiness to witness the establishment of these stores. He also said that people need to take certain drugs from time to time and that most of these drugs have many side effects on them which requires raising the public awareness regarding how and what drugs should be taken. This project and its team of researchers aim to raise the awareness of the public regarding how to use drugs in order to protect them from any potential serious side effects.

A University-based team of expert researchers in the pharmaceutical field work on a development mechanism in order to enhance the rationalization of drug use at the Palestinian Ministry of Health through studying and reviewing the basic Palestinian drugs’ list according to the latest updates and developments in the world.

Prof. Hamdallah also spoke about the continuous cooperation between researchers and experts at the University and those at the Ministry of Health, and the new Teaching Hospital project which is under-construction by the University and the Ministry. Moreover, he described the different health programs that the University has introduced including the family medicine, paramedic, and Health and Clinical Pharmacy Master Program.

Additionally, Prof. Hamdallah thanked Mr. Desagneaux and the French Consulate General for their continuous support and cooperation with the University in accomplishing many successful projects. He also thanked the Ministry of Health and PECDAR for their support and cooperation with An-Najah.

Dr. Abu Mughli valued An-Najah’s role in supporting this project through donating the piece of land in Salem Village to the Ministry which made it possible for the persons in charge of the project to move on to the next step in building the new stores.

Dr. Abu Mughli stressed the deep relationship between the Ministry of Health and An-Najah who has contributed to the success of the project through its generous donation. He also appreciated the French support and assistance in developing health projects in Palestine.

Moreover, Dr. Abu Mughli explained that the new stores will operate according to the highest international storing, distribution, drug use rationalization and drug preservation standards. This project will also help improve the services provided to the local society and provide them with better job opportunities.

Mr.  Desagneaux spoke about the projects that the French Consulate has supported whether in the West Bank or Gaza, in addition to the twinning projects that were implemented in Nablus with the city of Lille in France.

The representative of PECDAR thanked the University and the French Consulate for supporting this important project. Engineer Rima Arafat from the Engineering Office delivered a detailed presentation about the project and its design.

The project will be implemented on a 10-donum piece of land in Salem and Dair Al-Hatab villages; the stores will cover an area of 8200 square meters with a total cost of 5.8 million Euros and work on the project will be completed by 2013.