Healthcare in Qatar

Introduction
Qatar, a nation rich in oil and gas natural reserves, is located in the Middle East and is neighboured by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. With a land area of 4,184 square miles, the population was estimated to be 825,000 at the start of 2008.

General information
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently ranked Qatar at the top of the per capita health expenditure list among the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC). This expenditure has had a positive effect on some vital health statistics for the country. For example, the crude death rate in 2006 was 2.09 per 1,000 of the population. The total fertility rate and the average life expectance at birth for the same period was 2.67 and 75.8 years respectively. The National Health Authority (NHA) was established in 2005 to replace the Ministry of Public Health. The NHA overseas the necessary medical services and entrusts them to public health institutions, the main one being the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). The capital city, Doha, has numerous hospitals and clinics. Health centres have also been set-up along the highways for ease of access. Since the country opened its first hospital 50 years ago, many changes and improvements have been introduced. The healthcare system is available to all; whether you are a national, expatriate or a tourist. Qatar has a public health service that provides free or highly subsidised healthcare and, generally speaking, it is of an excellent standard. The one possible exception to this may be treatment for highly specialised services. Although the healthcare system has been substantially improved, it is not without its problems. A growing population, coupled with an increased need for expensive treatment, is costly to run. Although healthcare is free or highly subsidised, as an expatriate or tourist, it is likely that you will have to pay some of your medical costs. For these reasons it is recommended that tourists and expatriates avail of international health insurance.

Preventative healthcare
One of the main focuses for preventative healthcare is the fight against contagious diseases. As such, Qatar has a comprehensive list of vaccinations for newborns and was one of the first countries to add an anti influenza vaccine to this list. As well as contagious diseases, a section was set up for non-communicable conditions such as tobacco addiction, accidents and a unit dedicated to nutrition.

Hospitals
There are 9 hospitals in Qatar, 5 of which are government operated and 4 which are privately run. In 2006, there were a total of 2,077 hospital beds, which equates to approximately 25 beds per 10,000 of the population. Some of the main hospitals include the Hamad General Hospital, which has 616 beds covering all general medical areas, with specialities in paediatrics, surgery and internal medicine; the Rumaillah Hospital and the Al Amal Hospital, a groundbreaking specialist centre for the detection, treatment and rehabilitation of cancer. In 2006 there were 27.6 physicians and 73.8 nurses per 10,000 of the population.

Emergency services
The ambulance service received a major boost in numbers in 2002 and, as such, ambulances are available nationwide. As a result, there is a low average response time to an emergency call. To further improve the service, ambulances are linked to the Hamad Hospital via satellite.

Pharmacy/Chemist
The NHA, working to international standards, controls the manufacturing and marketing of drugs. There are numerous pharmacies in Qatar, with some having late opening hours.

Common complaints

Non-natives, and those who are not used to searing summertime temperatures, can be susceptible to sunstroke and sunburn as temperatures often reach 50C during the summer months. Dehydration is also something to be aware of. Respiratory problems arise due to the dust and sand in the air. For some expatriates, alcoholism is also a condition that has been noted by the medical staff of Qatar.

The number of private heathcare facilities is rapidly growing in the country, and so are public complaints about the exorbitant fees charged by such facilities as well as their services that are said to be far from satisfactory.

The tough monitoring by the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) has helped to improve the performance of private healthcare providers to some extent, but their charges remain untouched until now.

The Permanent Licensing Committee (PLC) and the Medical Licensing Department (MLD) at SCH that are responsible for licensing and monitoring private healthcare facilities in the country have so far abstained from regulating the prices.

This, coupled with a lack of healthy competition in the market, has led to glaring disparities in the prices charged by several private clinics and hospitals. Many people find their services unaffordable, especially those who are not covered by health insurance.

The healthcare sector in Qatar remains heavily dominated by public hospitals and health centres, but the crowding and long waiting time at such facilities have been forcing many people to rely on private clinics and hospitals.

Community websites have been flooded with complaints by nationals and residents regarding the high fees in the private healthcare sector.

Although some private companies and semi-government establishments are providing health insurance to their employees, over 90 percent of employees in the public sector dont enjoy this privilege. They would prefer to go to the Hamad General Hospital (HGH) but sometimes it takes more than two months to get an appointment for X-ray and other medical examinations. People have no other way but to go to a private clinic. We request the Minister of Health to intervene and stop

the fee hike in private hospitals, mainly that of dental clinics, reads a comment posted by a concerned national.

The fees are going up in several private clinics and hospitals. To open a file you have to pay QR100 to QR250. Some hospitals are charging QR300 to QR400 for consultation, even if the doctor is a general practitioner. People are going to private hospitals to avoid the long queues at the HMC Emergency, lamented another Qatari.

Private hospitals and clinics are plundering customers who do not have insurance cover. The prices should be fixed and the Supreme Council of Health should provide a box in each clinic to receive complaints from patients, reads a posting.

Such allegations are not exaggerated. Consultation fees at the four private hospitals in Qatar vary from QR120 to QR300 while most poly clinics have also raised their fees up to QR100. The fee for seeing a specialist at these clinics has been raised up to QR150.

The fee for different types of medical examinations and treatment vary from one facility to another, depending on the nature of the facility as well as the service.

The providers would justify their fees citing high overheads and using complex medical terminologies, which most customers would find hard to digest.

Dental clinics, in particular, have been drawing harsh criticism from the public due to their unusually high fees. A dental clinic in Medinat Khalifa charges QR150 for opening a file while an oral examination as well as consultation cost QR250.

The charges for various treatment at such clinics range from QR250 to QR6,000 while some surgeries cost as high as QR18,000. A simple tooth extraction would cost QR300 to QR500 while an implant is done at prices ranging from QR4,000 to QR6,000.

Root canal treatment would cost QR1,000 to 2,000 while a full denture is done for QR5,000.

While people are calling for government intervention to regulate the prices, the SCH has categorically said that it has no plans to do that.

The Permanent Licensing Committee has the authority to regulate the prices but it will not do that since the government wants to promote healthy competition in the market. Rather than regulating the prices, we have introduced a monitoring system to make sure that the facilities stick to their declared prices, Dr Jamal Rashid Al Khanji, Director of the Medical Licensing Department (MLD) told The Peninsula. The MLD has made it mandatory for all private healthcare facilities to submit their pricelists to the Department while seeking a new licence or renewal of an existing licence.

The facilities are required to abide by the declared prices and seek prior approval from the Department for any hike in the prices.

Most facilities have already submitted their pricelists. Our plan is to publish all the price lists through our website so that people can make their own comparison. This will definitely have a psychological impact on the providers and serve as a deterrent from hiking the prices indiscriminately, said Al Khanji.

The MLD had a plan to compare and contrast the prices charged by various facilities to see if some facilities are charging unreasonable fees. The official said this has turned to be a very difficult exercise since the nature and the quality of the services vary from one facility to another.

We want people to make the comparison themselves and choose the facilities they like. This does not mean that we will allow the providers to charge fees as they wish. If we receive any complaint from the public about any facility charging unjustifiable fees we will investigate and take appropriate action, said Al Khanji.

He said the MLD was investigating complaints about a suspected nexus between some private physicians and laboratories to fleece customers by forcing them to undergo unnecessary tests.

Such unethical practices cannot be tolerated, said the official.

Patients also have the right to know the charges, before they undergo a specific treatment. The practitioners and the facilities are not permitted to charge more than what was agreed upon, unless the nature of the treatment necessitates that.

Customers can lodge complaints with the MLD if the providers fail to abide by the regulations.

The high fees in the private healthcare sector have been attributed to the fact that the sector is not properly developed and there is an absence of healthy competition in the market.

Currently there are about 600 private healthcare facilities in Qatar including the four private hospitals and a number of clinics, laboratories and other facilities.

Their numbers are growing very fast with many more entrepreneurs showing interest to invest in the booming health sector in the country. The PLC had issued about 100 new licences to private healthcare facilities only last year.

The number of healthcare professionals seeking a licence to practice in Qatar has also gone up manifold over the past four

years. The establishment of more healthcare facilities in the private sector, however, has not resulted in lower fees and better facilities.

Despite the recent growth, the private healthcare sector is still struggling to survive under the dominance of public healthcare facilities in the primary and tertiary sectors. The exploitative prices and the wide discrepancy in their fee structure are said to be signs of this weakness.

The hundreds of low-income Asian workers are the most unfortunate victims of the high fees. Many of them are forced to rely on such facilities for the simple reason that they wont have enough time to queue up in a primary health centre or the emergency department at HMC. And only a small segment of these workers are covered by health insurance.

The proposed national insurance scheme is expected to give a boost to the private healthcare sector in the country by drawing more people to such facilities. The insurance scheme is also expected to address the high fees to some extent by standardising the prices for various services.

The authorities, however, have no immediate solution to the problem other than anticipate that the prices would stabilise with the industry becoming more robust and competitive.

People are left with very few options since the healthcare providers are almost united in fleecing the customers. Lack of information about the fees charged by various facilities is a major factor worsening the situation and the SCH move to publish the pricelists could make a difference in this regard

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Healthcare in Qatar
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Healthcare in Qatar is generally perceived as being among the best available in the Middle East, and remains a priority for the local government. The emirate offers expats both private and public options, and boasts the latest medical equipment, up-to-date facilities, and highly trained specialists.

The nation has been credited by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as having the highest per capita expenditure on healthcare of all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, an accolade that can also be associated with low maternity mortality rates and a newfound medical tourism. Expats can use both the public and the private system, but many still prefer to use the latter to avoid the bureaucracy associated with the former. Health insurance is not government provided, and its recommended that all expats living in Qatar either take out international or local health insurance to cover costs that can rise quickly in the case of emergency or a more complicated issue.

Public healthcare in Qatar

Since its governmental inception in 1979, Hamad Medical Corporation - the non-profit organisation that manages the major public hospitals (Hamad General Hospital, Rumailah Hospital, Womens Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital), has created an intricate network of primary healthcare centres and specialised hospitals that provide free medical and dental treatment to local Qataris, and largely subsidised services for expats. Foreigners moving to Qatar only need apply for a health card (QR 100) in order to take advantage of the state-sponsored service. Expats will need to supplement charges incurred for tests, consultations and in-patient care only with a nominal fee. Getting a health card Applications for a health card can be completed at the general post office, or at a recognised health card office. Expats need only bring a copy of their passport with their residence visa, colour passport-sized photographs, and a completed application form, in addition to the basic fee. Renewals can now be done online at the Qatari government ePortal, or at a health card office. Simply present this card upon treatment at any public facility to receive the subsidised rate.

Private healthcare in Qatar

The Qatari government is also a strong advocate for the development of private sector services.

In 2010 alone, nearly 100 new facilities were established and the number of licensed practitioners in the emirate increased by roughly 30 percent. Many of these professionals are expats themselves, lured abroad by the same attractive salary packages and the spirit of adventure that draw others. In that vein, its not strange for expats to seek out doctors from their home country, if thats something that makes them feel more

comfortable. Private healthcare is available either as a pay-as-you-need-it endeavour, or as a service covered by local or international healthcare providers. Treatment costs can accumulate quickly though, and expats should make sure they have some sort of insurance.

Health insurance in Qatar

Expats moving to Qatar should make an effort to have their sponsor/employer include private health insurance in their contract. This coverage, in addition to the basic health card, will ensure that all of your healthcare concerns can be laid to rest while living in the emirate.

Pharmacies in Qatar
There are plenty of pharmacies available in Qatar, some even open late. Most stock a good range of products; though, its always best to bring a small supply of any necessary medication from home until you can confirm that it is indeed possible to obtain it abroad.

Emergency services
Though the emergency service sector in Qatar was relegated to a fleet of five ambulances until the turn of the century, these days there are more than enough vehicles and the average response time to a call is seven minutes. Dial 999 to call the police, the fire department or an ambulance.

Hospitals in Qatar
Hamad General Hospital +974 439 4444 www.hmc.org.qa

Rumailah Hospital

+974 439 3333

www.hmc.org.qa

Womens Hospital Private hospitals in Qatar Al-Ahli Hospital

+974 439 6666

www.hmc.org.qa

+974 489 8888

www.ahlihospital.com

Al Emadi Hospital

+974 466 6009

www.alemadihospital.com.qa

American Hospital

+974 442 1999

www.ahqatar.com

Doha Clinic Hospital

+974 432 7300

www.doha-hospital.com