Qatar is a peninsular Arab country with a long Persian (Arab) Gulf shoreline of beaches and dunes. Also on the coast is the capital, Doha, known for its futuristic skyscrapers and other ultramodern architecture inspired by ancient Islamic design, such as the limestone Museum of Islamic Art. Qatar is a high-income economy, backed by the world’s second-largest natural-gas reserves and oil reserves. The country has the highest per capita income in the world. Qatar is classified by the United Nations as a country of very high human development and is widely regarded as the most advanced Arab state in this regard.
Qatar has developed a long-term development strategy, articulated in the Qatar National Vision 2030. The seven National Health Strategy Goals are:
- A comprehensive world-class health care system whose services are accessible to the whole population
- An integrated system of health care offering high-quality services
- Preventive health care that takes into account the differing needs of men, women, and children
- A skilled national workforce capable of providing high-quality health services
- A national health policy that sets and monitors standards
- Effective and affordable services in accordance with the principle of partnership in bearing the costs of health care
- High-caliber research directed at improving the effectiveness and quality of health care
For each of these goals, the Qatar health care system has made significant strides. For example, the State of Qatar has implemented an integrated information system, shared by all facilities, from primary health care centers to tertiary hospitals. That integration has created coherence and synergy among many parts of the health care system to improve efficiency, quality of care, and patient experience.
Qatar has a number of public and private hospitals.
Government-Run Health Care
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), affiliated with Cornell University, is the premier not-for-profit health care provider in the country. Established in 1979, HMC now manages a number of hospitals, including Hamad General Hospital, Heart Hospital, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Communicable Disease Hospital, Rumailah Hospital, Women’s Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital, Al Khor Hospital, Al Wakra Hospital, and the Cuban Hospital. In addition, it manages the new facilities at the recently opened Hamad bin Khalifa Medical City complex, including the new Women’s Wellness and Research Center, the Ambulatory Care Center, and the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute. It also operates the national ambulance service and a home health care service. There are about 500,000 total visits to all the emergency rooms each year.
