This entitles the bearer to emergency treatment and routine referrals. Surgery and treatment is either free or heavily subsidised.

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is the main public healthcare provider and owns 80 per cent of all healthcare facilities in Qatar. It is estimated to carry out 90 per cent of health-related services in the country. HMC runs six major hospitals: Rumailah, the Cuban Hospital, Hamad General, Al-Khor, Al-Wakra and the Women’s General Hospital, as well as a network of primary health centres. It also operates the state ambulance service and several specialist facilities, including a psychiatric hospital and the National Centre for Cancer Care and Research. Three new hospitals are under construction, which will form the Hamad Medical City. There is also a growing private healthcare sector in Qatar, with more than a dozen hospitals and medical centres.

Qatar’s first private hospital, Doha Medical Centre Hospital, was opened in 2001. A second, bigger private facility, Al-Ahli Hospital, was inaugurated in 2004 and has 240 beds. Other major private hospitals include the American Hospital and Al-Emadi Hospital.

In 2013, the government launched a five-phase scheme to introduce mandatory health insurance. The first phase, implemented in July 2013, covers women’s health for nationals. Qatari men and women will be covered first, with their premiums paid by the state. White-collar expatriates must be insured, with premiums paid by their employers or sponsors, in the first quarter of 2015. By the end of that year, health insurance must be universal, with blue-collar workers covered as well.

Healthcare provision in Qatar is regarded to be among the region’s best. The government is implementing a patient-centred National Health Strategy for 2011-16, which aims to make primary health centres the main point of entry into the health service, and create a referral system for specialist treatments.

As part of Qatar’s plans to become a leader in health provision and research, the Qatar Foundation is building the $7.9bn Sidra Medical and Research Centre. The clinical focus will be on obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics, although Sidra will also offer select medical surgical services for adults, including organ transplants. Its research will also focus on preventive medicine, pregnancy and fertility, and the centre will contain a range of laboratories and facilities to attract more scientists into the country. The long-term vision is for Sidra to become a referral centre for patients from across the region.

In 2013, the government launched a scheme to introduce mandatory health insurance

The long-term vision is for Sidra to become a referral centre for patients from across the region