When it was announced that the healthcare system of Qatar is one of the best in the world, it did not come as a surprise for residents in the country as they were already availing the world-class healthcare facilities.
Qatar’s health system was ranked 13th best in the world and first in the Middle East by the 2017 Legatum Prosperity Index. The annual index measures and ranks the health of people living in 149 countries.
A comprehensive review process assessed three key measures of the quality of each country’s healthcare system, including basic mental and physical health, health infrastructure, and the availability of preventive care.
Qatar’s high ranking is the endorsement of the quality of care the country delivers every day to patients across its health system and it shows the enormous progress the country has made in terms of increasing capacity and advancing the quality of care.
The commendable part of this accomplishment is that it not just one-off achievement. The country has continuously raised its benchmark of quality in the past few years. Qatar’s health ranking within the Legatum Prosperity Index has risen in the past 10 years, advancing from 27th in the world in 2008 to 13th place at present.
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has opened seven new hospitals and numerous specialist facilities since 2011, significantly expanding its infrastructure and the range of services offered to patients. In the last two years alone, HMC has opened four new hospitals across its Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City Doha campus: the Communicable Disease Center, Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, the Ambulatory Care Center, and the Women’s Wellness and Research Center.
Last month, HMC’s Ambulance Service announced that it would launch a newly improved fleet of 60 emergency vehicles to further strengthen its services for patients outside Doha. The ambulances also known as ‘Rural Ambulances’ are specially designed to meet the requirements of areas outside Doha and will be included into operations in a phased process.
HMC Ambulance Service has seen an increase of 12 percent in the call volume in 2017.
A total of 269,053 calls were received in 2017 by the Ambulance Service compared to 239,782 in 2016. Among all cases the Ambulance Service attended 21.6 percent trauma cases due to road accidents and injuries as well as 78.4 medical emergencies such as cardiac problems, stroke and other conditions.
The efforts taken by authorities to ensure world-class healthcare services means that Qatar will continue to win global accolade for its healthcare facilities.
