Qatar's healthcare sector has come a long way since the country's first hospital opened its doors almost 50 years ago. Today, the industry boasts the most advanced medical equipment and highly qualified staff, a countrywide network of hospitals and healthcare centers, as well as a cardiology department that is referred to by outside specialists as "one of the best in the world". And according to a report from the general secretariat of the GCC ministers of health, Qatar enjoys the region's lowest maternal mortality rate.

Back in October 1957, Rumaillah Hospital opened as a 200-bed general hospital with ambulance services and a large outpatient facility. With the years, as the population's medical needs grew, the country decided that something had to be done and Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) was born to provide state-of the-art diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Since its establishment in October 1979, HMC has become Qatar's leading non-profit healthcare provider through its network of Primary Health Care Centers and four highly specialized hospitals in the capital, Doha.

At these HMC facilities, medical and dental treatment is free for Qatari's and heavily state-subsidized for expatriates. Touse the facilities, residents and visitors are required to apply for a QR100 health card, which allows them to pay small charges for various tests and consultations as well as a nominal fee for inpatient care.

Besides HMC, the Qatari government has also encouraged the private sector to play a greater role in providing healthcare to the public. The country's first private hospital opened in late 1999, and private practices and clinics (both medical and dental) now offer a full range of medical services, from rheumatology and dermatology to reflexology and home nursing care. Laws governing private practice are strict, and licensing by the Ministry of Public Health - which oversees all health services in the country - is mandatory for all establishments and each of their medical and nursing staff.
Not with standing that, private medical service facilities have expanded to represent 67% of al the country's health services providers, helping to ease the burden on HMC and the Primary Health Care Centers.

Preventive Health Care Services

The Preventive Health Department is responsible for fighting contagious diseases, carrying out vaccination, immunization, and food and quarantine watch control at the airport and seaports, providing health education in the field of mother and child care and insuring environmental health and safety. Immunization against Hepatitis B was carried out in the context of the nation-wide immunization campaigns against contagious diseases. A Childhood Diseases Immunization system was entirely applied. A Pre-school immunization program was adopted as a regular practice. Efforts continue to virtually irradiate polio and measles, and Qatar was one of the first countries to have added anti-influenza vaccine B to their newborns comprehensive immunization programs.

Primary Health Care

Primary health care aims to realize social development by adopting health programs that help citizens to become productive elements in society. The programs implemented by the Primary Health care include health awareness, maternity and childhood health care, immunization against childhood diseases, diagnosing and treating chronic diseases, providing medicinal drugs, healthy food and clean water and ambulance and medical emergency services.
Medical services at the health centers have been developed in order to support the role of primary health care. Three extensions were added to the most densely frequented health centers to cater for X-ray, maternity and childhood, healthy woman clinics and early diagnosis of cancer. new clinics including X-ray, eye, mother and child care, heart and ENT have been added to Almuntazah health center at the cost of QR 1.3 million. The X-ray unit at Madinat Khalifa health Center has been opened. Some clinics were opened outside Doha as well, including eye, ENT, and minor injuries sections at Al-Wakra, Al-Khor, Al-Shamal and AI-Shahaniya health centers. Currently a new health center is under construction at Al-Matar AI-Qadim area.

Health Commission Services

The Health Commission Department carries out medical checks on everybody arriving in the country for work or on a visit, and issues health certificates for such categories as those who are about to get married and who are applying for jobs, universities or popular houses. The services of this department have improved considerably. Evening work hours have been extended and health commission services for Qatari's have been transferred to the health centers to expedite work on their behalf.

Nursing Technical Secondary School

The Nursing Technical Secondary School was inaugurated in 1969. It had 20 students from Qatar and the Gulf Arab countries. In 1972 the first batch of students graduated from the School, in which the term of study is three years. The student gets a monthly allowance of QR 1800, school uniform for theoretical and practical classes and free transportation and stationary. The School works to qualify the Qatari cadres in the nursing profession and provide qualified female nurses capable of practicing family and community nursing services.
The certificate is equivalent to a high diploma and close to a bachelor's degree in nursing.
The World Health Organization has appointed the director of nursing at Hamad Medical Corporation as a consultant in nursing affairs at the organization. This is Qatar's first international representation in the field of nursing.

Hamad Medical Corporation

Hamad Medical Corporation is considered to be one of the most outstanding specialized medical establishments in the Arabian Gulf region. It was established in 1982 after completing the merger of all hospitals belonging to HMC into an integrated administrative body comprising Hamad General Hospital, Rumailah Hospital and the Women's Hospital.
A study has recently been completed on a proposal project to affiliate health centers to HMC so as to unify the management of health services in all facilities.

Hamad General Hospital

Hamad General Hospital extends a highly specialized care to all the people of Qatar through a modern and well-equipped facility at Rayyan Road. The hospital opened in 1982 and has a total of 621 beds for inpatient care, a large outpatient department providing 65 specialty clinics, an Accident and Emergency Department, five intensive care units, eight operating theaters, and a pharmacy. Modern diagnostic facilities consisting of Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and a Department of Radiology support all therapeutic services. Continuous upgrading of all equipment and protocols of care has kept Hamad General abreast of new developments in all specialties.

The steady rise in the number of patients seeking care at Hamad General Hospital has stimulated the expansion of services to meet the demand. Demand for specialized care is the result of continuous population growth.

Hamad General Hospital is one of three hospitals managed by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the only health care corporation in the state. The other hospitals are Rumailah Hospital, refurbished in 1977 and Women’s Hospital, opened in 1988.

Hamad General Hospital is located at Rayyan Road in the capital city of Doha and is physically connected to Women’s Hospital and by an access road to Rumailah Hospital. LINK

Rumailah Hospital

The Rumaillah Hospital is Qatar’s oldest health facility. Originally built in 1956, Rumaillah Hospital opened in 1957 as a 200-bed general hospital with ambulance services and a large outpatient facility.

Following the opening of Hamad Hospital in 1982, Rumaillah Hospital became a rehabilitation center for disabled adults, elderly people and handicapped children. With many of its units requiring major renovation, management launched a 10-year program to rebuild the facility in three phases.

The completion of the renovation program for Rumaillah Hospital in 1997 was a hallmark for the Corporation. Qatar’s oldest health care facility was refurbished into a modern yet quiet hospital offering a 306-bed facility with a spacious, clean and restful environment.

In addition to its current rehabilitative and therapeutic services, Plastic Surgery, ENT Surgery, Ophthalmology, Day Care Surgery and a Stroke Unit were added to Rumaillah. The Hospital will have seven operating theaters; a laboratory and a diagnostic imaging facility with an MRI, ultrasound and bone densitometry equipment.

Rumaillah Hospital is run by a team of experienced administrators and physicians LINK

The Women's Hospital

The State of Qatar provides highly specialized care to women and infants. A well- quipped facility for women and babies was built at Rayyan Road and opened in 1988. The Women’s Hospital is one of three hospitals managed by Hamad Medical Corporation.

The maternal facility is patronized by women of all nationalities in the state and handles 1000-1200 deliveries per month. The hospital offers a total of 334 beds to women. The private wing offers 31 private rooms and 4 wings for the newly born babies at the neonatal intensive care unit.

Women’s Hospital has 334 beds in five upper floors. Most of the rooms are twin-bedded with a bathroom. The rooms are grouped according to the type of care required by the patient: They are antenatal, postnatal, gynecology and high dependency areas.

The Hospital has highly furnished wing composed of 35 beds, on private hotel quality level providing privacy, special menu food and cable programs.

The Women’s Hospital provides a superb hospital service for pregnant women and newborns. Most services are accessible to everyone with a minimal charge. LINK=>>

AL Amal Oncology Hospital

With the opening of the QR 90 million AL Amal Oncology Hospital in mid-2004, cancer patients in Qatar now have a total cancer care facility that compares with the best in the world. The new hospital is a one-stop facility, with services including early detection, therapy, counseling, rehabilitation, education forums and workshops.

The hospital is operated in collaboration with Germany's University Clinics of Heidelberg (UCH), one of Europe's top institutions for cancer care and which was treating radiotherapy patients from Qatar for a number of years.

AI Amal, which has an inpatient facility of over 70 beds, expects to receive 600 new cancer cases yearly and treat up to 4,500 patients suffering from existing cancers annually. It aims to become the Middle East's premier facility for cancer treatment, education and training

PRIVATE HOSPITALS

• AI Ahli Hospital: AI Ahli Hospital looks set to be a major private hospital in Qatar. It opened with limited services in December, and full operations are scheduled to be launched in phases throughout the first half of 2005.
• AI Emadl Hospital: Besides nursing patients back to health, the management at AI Emadi Hospital aims to provide comprehensive healthcare education to its patients. It believes in knowledge-sharing and planning with patients and their families. Its wide range of specialty care includes treatment of obesity, general surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgeries, dermatology, dental services and emergency services. See page 218 for further details.
• American Hospital Doha: Opened in mid October 1999, American Hospital Doha was Qatar's first private hospital and has recently upgraded its equipment and facilities.
• Doha Clinic Hospital: Doha Clinic started life as a polyclinic in 1994 and expanded over the years to become a fully integrated hospital in 2001. It was renamed Doha Clinic Hospital.