Qatar’s health care sector has undergone a profound transformation over the past decade, evolving into one of the most advanced systems in the GCC. Underpinned by Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030, the long-term development plan, and successive national health strategies, the country has focused on developing modern infrastructure, ensuring universal health coverage and promoting a healthy population with high levels of well-being. Building on this foundation, new areas of strategic importance are coming to the fore. These include the rapid digitalisation of health care delivery, the integration of mental health services into mainstream care, and growing ambitions in medical tourism and sustainable health service delivery.
Oversight
The health care system in Qatar can be categorised into public health care and private health care. The former subsector is mainly funded by the government and is regulated by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), which is responsible for overseeing clinics, hospitals and health care policies. The private health care sector is managed by private providers and entities which offer various medical services, although they are also regulated by the MoPH. The main responsibilities of the ministry include regulating medical professions; overseeing private health care, regulating health insurance; and overseeing hospitals, primary health care centres and pharmaceutical services, as well as implementing food safety standards. The MoPH is focused on increasing health care awareness, supporting medical research and ensuring that the country is prepared for emergencies. The MoPH is aligned with QNV 2030 and led by Mansoor bin Ebrahim bin Saad Al Mahmoud, who began his tenure in November 2024. The minister’s main responsibilities include proposing and overseeing health care policies, developing and improving health care services and fostering patient health and well-being awareness.
Structure
There are various departments under the MoPH. The Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control Department is responsible for observing and regulating communicable diseases and supervising the national vaccination programme. The Health Promotion Division develops health promotion policies and plans, including occupational health and mental health. The Health Information Centre gathers health data, conducts surveys and works with international health entities. The Food Safety Department focuses on implementing food safety policies according to Law No. 8 of 1990, which refers to regulating human food control.
The Health Emergency Department focuses on emergency preparedness, while the Health Financing and Insurance Department develops the country’s insurance and financing systems. The Health Care Professions Department is responsible for the accreditation of hospitals, clinics and training centres for health practitioners, as well as issuing medical licences or revoking them when needed. The Health Facilities Licensing and Accreditation Department manages the licensing and accreditation of health facilities, while the Pharmacy and Drug Control Department manages the dispensing, import and circulation of medicine. Its role also encompasses the registration of pharmaceutical companies and the supervision of drug prices.
The MoPH offers various e-services such as birth and death certificates, medical commission requests and clinical guidelines. Public health care is provided through the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) network of secondary and tertiary hospitals and clinics, as well as the Primary Health Care Corporation’s health centres. Public health care services can be accessed through a health card which is issued by the government. Expatriates, as well as Qatari nationals who have private insurance or self-funding, can access private health care services at various hospitals and clinics. Private health care is driven by an increasing demand in faster service and Qatar’s growing population. Generally, private medical institutions offer a greater selection of options for specialised procedures.
Health Insurance
Qatari nationals are covered by the national health insurance scheme, while non-Qatari nationals need to either receive private health insurance via their employers or purchase insurance if self-employed. According to the Health Care Services Law No. 22 of 2021, called the New Health Care Insurance Law, which was partially implemented in May 2022, Qatari citizens are entitled to free health care at public institutions, while non-Qatari residents and foreign visitors are required to receive private health insurance. Before the partial implementation of the law, most foreign citizens who were visiting or working in Qatar could choose either a government insurance scheme or a private insurance scheme.
The announcement of the new law led to different changes being made to the health insurance system. Aside from the fact that expatriates and foreign visitors or workers in Qatar are required to receive private health insurance for the duration of their stay in order to access health services, employers are required to enrol their non-Qatari employees, as well as their family members, in the mandatory private health insurance scheme through contracts with insurance companies registered with the MoPH. Additionally, employers and sponsors of expatriates are required to provide them with basic health insurance coverage. Moreover, according to the new law, the issuance or renewal of residence permits by employers requires them to prove that their employers are enrolled in the mandatory health insurance scheme. Basic health insurance also became a prerequisite for obtaining any visa or permit; foreign nationals without health insurance are not able to renew their visas or receive new visas.
Strategy
In September 2024 the National Health Strategy 2024-30 (NHS 2024-30) was launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. The strategy was announced under the slogan, Health for All. According to Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, the former minister of public health, NHS 2024-30 is a step towards achieving QNV 2030 and the Third National Development Strategy (NDS-3) that covers the 2024-30 period. There are three main priorities under NHS 2024-30. First, enhancing the health and well-being of the population of Qatar. Second, having excellent service delivery and patient care, and lastly, developing the efficiency and resilience of the health system.
The main mission of the MoPH’s strategy is to build a health-focused society that is supported by an integrated health care system, centred on clinical excellence, sustainability and innovation to nurture physically, mentally and socially healthy individuals. More specifically, the strategy aims to increase life expectancy to 82.6 years and achieve a 36% decrease in mortality rates from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), as well as a reduction of infant mortality to two per 1000 births.
Investing in health care is part of QNV 2030’s human development pillar, which aims to build a skilled and capable population that can achieve Qatar’s goals as a nation. The goals of NHS 2024-30 fall under the broader NDS-3 in order to achieve QNV 2030. Through previous iterations of the NHS, covering the 2011-16 and 2018-22 periods, Qatar made various achievements in the health care sector. During the implementation of the two strategies, the National Health Committee for Crisis and Disaster Management was created, and health care infrastructure including hospitals and primary health centres was increased, and electronic health initiatives were launched. Additionally, an average life expectancy of 80.3 years was achieved in 2024 and telemedicine and digital health services were enhanced. Lastly, a national plan to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic was implemented, as Qatar’s mortality rate, most notably in 2020, was among the world’s lowest during the pandemic.
Budget
It is estimated that Qatar’s health care expenditure amounts to QR2.5bn ($686.2m) annually. Qatar’s health expenditure is expected to reach approximately $12.8bn by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.6% over the 2024-29 period. In 2025 Qatar budgeted $6bn on health, which is a 4.6% increase from health care spending in 2024 and 10.5% of the total budget for 2025. In 2019 public health care expenditure as a percentage of total health care expenditure was 79.3%, the third-highest among GCC countries, while private health care spending accounted for 20.7% of total health care expenditure. As for health expenditure as a percentage of GDP, this was 2.9% in 2021. Moreover, Qatar’s medical devices subsector is expected to reach $298.6m by 2028 at a CAGR of 5.7%. In 2025 the health sector is expected to witness stronger output and a rebound in investment as the market will also be driven by NHS 2024-30.
Indicators
In 2024 the mortality rate in Qatar was 1.4 deaths per 1000 people. In the same year the infant mortality rate was 6.4 deaths per 1000 live births, or seven deaths per 1000 live births for males and 5.8 deaths per 1000 live births for females. In 2020 the maternal mortality rate was eight deaths per 100,000 live births. For males, in 2024, the life expectancy at birth was 78.2 years, while for females it was 82.4 years. In 2016 the rate of obesity among adults in Qatar was 35.1%, the highest in the GCC. NCDs were the leading cause of death in 2021, followed by communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions and injuries, and lastly, pandemic-related health outcomes.
In 2021 the leading cause of death for females in Qatar was ischaemic heart disease, followed by Covid-19, diabetes, stroke and kidney diseases. For males, the leading cause of death was also ischaemic heart disease, followed by Covid-19, diabetes, stroke and road injury. In 2020 Qatar’s Covid-19 mortality rate was among the lowest in the world, averaging less than 0.1%. Given that NCDs are the leading cause of death in Qatar, the MoPH has been working with various stakeholders in order to develop strategies and guidelines related to NCDs.
According to NHS 2018-22, the second iteration of NHS, more than two-thirds of all deaths are caused by chronic conditions, specifically cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. The main risk factors involved in the high rate of NCDs include physical inactivity, tobacco use and unhealthy diets. There are also various metabolic risk factors involved; high blood pressure, increased body mass index and raised blood lipid levels have a high likelihood of resulting in cardiovascular diseases. However, there has been some reduction in the prevalence of NCDs. The prevalence of respondents having hyperglycaemia or being treated for it had decreased from 16.7% in 2012 to 15.4% in 2023 according to findings of the STEP wise Survey 2023 published in November 2024. Additionally, the survey revealed improvement in the rates of various risk factors connected to NCDs such as obesity and tobacco use. The rate of obesity decreased from 41.4% in 2012 to 39.2% in 2023. The proportion of smokers dropped from 16.4% in 2012 to 12.5% in 2023.
Qatar implemented the Qatar Cancer Plan 2023-26, which focuses on providing cancer care and investing in oncology services. The plan has various objectives that can be categorised into seven chapters, including prevention and public education, which aims to align with NHS 2024-30 and focuses on raising awareness of cancer risk factors and reducing stigma; early detection and screening, which aims to increase the early detection of cancers and enhance the quality of current services; quality treatment and ongoing care, which focuses on the need for a comprehensive cancer centre; and holistic support, which refers to providing support to cancer patients and survivors.
Facilities & Staff
The main public health provider is HMC, the manager of various medical facilities such as Hamad Medical City, which is a comprehensive facility that specialises in cardiology, oncology and neurology. The Women’s Wellness and Research Centre specialises in women’s health issues, with its services spanning maternity care and fertility treatments. Additionally, Al Khor Hospital provides basic health care services such as emergency care and outpatient services.
The National Planning Council’s published health care statistical data for the public and private health care sectors in 2019 and 2020. According to the data, there were 6.5 physicians and dentists in public health care facilities in 2019, with the population of physicians across public health care institutions during that year being 5558 and the population of dentists being 489. The rate of physicians per 1000 people in the public health care sector during that year was two and the rate of dentists per 1000 people was 0.2. As for the number of nurses, there were 16,838 in public health care facilities in 2019 and the rate of nurses per 1000 people was six.
There 463 people per physician and dentist in public health care institutions in 2019 and the population per nurse was 166. In the same year, regarding the number of pharmacists in public health care institutions, this was 1219 and the population per pharmacist was 2296. The number of beds in public hospitals that year was 2778 and the population per bed was 1008, with the rate of beds per 1000 people in public hospitals being one. As for the number of ambulance paramedics, this was 1373 in HMC in 2019 and 1493 in 2020, while the number of critical care paramedics at the corporation was 111 and 105 in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
In terms of private health care institutions, the total number of physicians in those institutions in 2019 was 2086 and the population per physician was 1342, with a rate of 0.7 per 1000 people. The number of dentists in private health care facilities in 2019 was 1338 and the population per dentist was 2092, with a rate of 0.5 per 1000 people. As for the number of nurses in private health care institutions, this was 5846 in 2019 and the population per nurse was 479, with a rate of 2.1 per 1000 people. The number of pharmacists in private health care institutions was 1489 and the population per pharmacist was 1880, with a rate of 0.5 per 1000 people. The total number of beds in private hospitals in 2019 was 356 and the population per bed was 7863, with a rate of 0.1 per 1000 people. There are various general private health care facilities, including Al Ahli Hospital, Al Emadi Hospital, Aman Hospital, American Hospital Clinics and Doha Clinic Hospital.
Pharmaceuticals
HMC has an office known as the Graduate Medical Education Office, which is under the corporation’s Medical Education Department. The Graduate Medical Education Office has various responsibilities, including the oversight of residency and fellowship training programmes, and supporting the sponsored postgraduate training programmes at HMC. The office also ensures the alignment of its programmes with ACGME International’s international accreditation standards. The office’s goal is to be able to create an environment that supports the training of medical students, as well as the training of residents and fellows at the corporation. In July 2013 seven residency training programmes gained ACGME International’s international programme accreditation. HMC is the main training site for most of the country’s residency and fellowship training programmes.
In various training hospitals such as Hamad General Hospital, Women’s Hospital, Rumailah Hospital and Al Khor Hospital, residents and fellows are able to complete their clinical rotations. Moreover, HMC supports the training of residents and fellows in health care organisations and private hospitals. The corporation has agreements with different health care organisations such as the Primary Health Care Corporation and Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital. By 2020, Qatar’s pharmaceutical market had become the 10th largest market within the Middle East. Additionally, it had the seventh-highest spending amount per capita on medicine in the region. Of the country’s total drug sales, patented drugs comprise 69.5%.
There are various multinational drug makers that provide Qatar with its pharmaceuticals supply, such as UK multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company GSK, Swiss multinational pharmaceutical companies Roche and Novartis, and US multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Pfizer. The major players in the pharmaceuticals market include UK multinational company Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Ras Al Khaimah’s Julphar, Oman’s National Pharmaceutical Industries and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Pharma. By 2030 Qatar’s drug market is forecast to have a value of QR4.8bn ($1.3bn). In 2019 the value of Qatar’s pharmaceutical sales was QR3.3bn ($912.9m), while in 2020, Qatar’s pharmaceutical spending per capita was $305 and 17.1% of its total health care expenditure was allocated to pharmaceuticals.
Digital Health
Digital transformation has become a cornerstone of Qatar’s health care vision, particularly following the Covid-19 pandemic, which accelerated the adoption of electronic health and health tech solutions. While previous strategies laid the groundwork, the NHS 2024–30 places a renewed emphasis on integrated digital health systems to streamline patient care, reduce operational costs and improve service delivery. Within the strategy’s third priority, which is health system efficiency and resilience, one of its stated future outcomes is to ensure a digitally enabled health system that leverages digital solutions to provide care through new prisms and methodologies. At the same time, it aims to improve the treatment of patients and, in parallel, bolster operational efficiency.
One way that this is being undertaken is through the national electronic health record system as part of the National E-Health and Data Management Strategy, which aims to consolidate the health information of patients across public and private providers. This unified digital repository improves data sharing among professionals and facilitates evidence-based care. In addition, providers such as HMC now use diagnostic tools assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) and digital triage systems such as predictive analytics across its network of hospitals, which improves the accuracy of clinical decision-making in time-critical situations such as emergency surgeries and procedures. In terms of emerging technologies, blockchain is being used in securing patient data and ensuring seamless interoperability between health care providers sharing sensitive information in a timely and secure manner, creating a tamper-proof system for managing the medical records of patients.
With the pandemic leading to 80% of outpatient care being provided by telemedicine by May 2020, HMC’s telemedicine and virtual services have since continued across HMC and other hospitals. On the patient care end of the spectrum, this includes virtual consultations, digital triage systems and remote patient monitoring for chronic disease management. These allow for a more streamlined service delivery while also ensuring coverage is ample in the more rural regions. More broadly, electronic health and health technology will assist Qatar’s ambition in becoming a leader within the GCC in health technology by 2030, through increased investments in AI, health informatics and various cybersecurity measures in protecting critical health platforms.
Medical Tourism
Qatar is now positioning itself as an emerging destination for medical tourism in the Gulf region. The high standard of health care infrastructure, coupled with a pronounced focus on patient safety and top-tier clinical expertise has garnered international interest for the segment, with the health tourism programme, an initiative of NHS 2024-30, being included within the main policy document. At the launch of NHS 2024-30 in September 2024, the ministry said that further details on the government’s health tourism programme would be released subsequently.
Anchor, specialist institutions that could attract international interest for medical tourism are Sidra Medicine and Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, both of which are internationally accredited and have garnered reputations for excellence in specialised fields including paediatrics, women’s health and sports injury rehabilitation. Sidra Medicine, in particular, is a state-of-the-art academic medical centre affiliated with Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar and it draws patients from neighbouring countries for advanced surgical interventions and rare disease treatment.
Outlook
Qatar enjoys a comprehensive health sector with robust public and private health care systems, and evidence-based public policy and practice. The MoPH is making great efforts to ensure that the health sector aligns with QNV 2030. Qatar has shown improvement in the NCD prevalence and had one of the lowest mortality rates during the pandemic. NHS 2024-30 shows promise, which includes priorities such as increasing life expectancy and decreasing mortality rates. Changes in the sector, such as the new insurance policy mandating private health insurance for those visiting or working in Qatar, need to be monitored and examined as to whether they will have an impact on the alignment of the health sector with QNV 2030 and NHS 2024-30.
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