Qatar’s famed health system has been ranked as the fifth best in the world

Qatar has always taken great pride in its health system, which has been regarded as one of the best in the region.

There was further validation for this as the country’s health system was recently chosen as the fifth best in the world and the first in the Middle East, reported Gulf Times.   

London-based think tank Legatum Institute undertook the study.

According to the study, Qatar became the only country in the region to score in the top five on the annual prosperity index, placed behind Singapore, Luxembourg, Japan and Switzerland. 

Improved life expectancy, better health outcomes, and investment in health infrastructure helped Qatar finish in the fifth place. 

Countries’ performance in three areas — basic health outcomes, health infrastructure and preventative care, and physical and mental health — were evaluated while calculating the rankings.

Qatar rose from 13th rank globally last year to fifth this year, thanks to the country having the highest life expectancy rate in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. It also globally ranks in the top 25 percentile for healthcare access and quality, reported The Peninsula.

The country's healthcare spending is among the highest in the Middle East, with QR22.7bn invested in healthcare in 2018, a 4% increase from the previous year.

“The 2018 ranking recognises the investment the country has made in health infrastructure. Over the past two years, we've opened six new public sector hospitals and introduced more than 1,100 new hospital beds,” said Qatar’s Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari.

“We’ve also opened four new Health and Wellness Centres. The ranking also recognises that our focus on areas such as cancer, diabetes, and smoking cessation is having a positive impact on people’s lives, and ultimately it recognises that life expectancy in Qatar continues to improve,” she added.

Qatar also ranks strongly for a number of health outcomes. The nation has the highest life expectancy rate in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and has seen the crude death rate per 100,000 population decline throughout this decade, from 99.1 in 2014 to 80.2 in 2017.

Additionally, infant mortality rates have declined consistently in recent years, from 7.4 per 1,000 live births in 2015 to 5.4 per 1,000 in 2017. 

The health ranking in the annual prosperity index uses data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank Development Indicators, the Gallup World Poll, and a variety of other sources to measure and rank the health of people living in 149 countries.

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Cover Image Credit: The Peninsula