The Development of the Qatar Healthcare System: A Review of the Literature

Background: Qatar, one of the smallest and wealthiest countries in the world, is a newly emerging healthcare system. Medical leadership in Qatar has had to create an infrastructure for medical care over the past twenty years. The purpose of this paper is to review the challenges and achievements of the newly emerging Qatar healthcare system. Methods: PubMed was searched using MESH terms: Qatar, healthcare, medical development, medical insurance and medical history. Websites of the World Bank, CIA fact book, Qatar Ministry of Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the US State department were searched for information about Qatar’s healthcare system and its history. Results: Qatar is a rapidly growing, multicultural country with over 80 nationalities represented. Qatar has developed a healthcare system with universal coverage. Up until 2014, the government has subsidized all care. There are plans to develop a medical insurance system. Conclusions: Qatar has experienced the rapid development of a healthcare system over the past twenty years. The government has centrally controlled growth and development. An examination of the unique challenges to building a Qatari healthcare system will be useful in considering how to develop medical infrastructure in other countries.