GS Health chartered the gains made by Qatar in its healthcare outcomes between 1990 and 2015. The healthcare consultancy carried out its analysis based on publicly available figures. The resulting paper, which was published in November 2019, is titled Strengthening the healthcare pyramid: How Qatar can make the next quantum leap in healthcare, and is available to read here.

Key findings from the study revealed that, between the time period measured, life expectancy in Qatar increased by three years, from 75 to 78; that’s one to four years longer than the average of countries in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC). The study also highlighted that the burden of disease in Qatar has fallen by 40 per cent since 1990, especially the burden of communicable, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. This figure represents 68-per-cent more healthy life years than in 1990, and 44-per-cent more than the GCC average.

In addition, when it comes to the country’s Amenable Mortality Index, which indicates healthcare performance by measuring rates of deaths that are considered preventable by timely and effective care, Qatar scored 20-per-cent higher than in 1990 – bringing it to sit amongst the top 15 per cent in the world.

All great results, although GS Health has asserted that, given the country’s socioeconomic profile and sizeable healthcare investments, these kinds of outcomes should be expected. Qatar’s per capita expenditure on healthcare is slightly higher than in Western European countries but, with spending geared towards world-class hospitals (roughly 70 to 75 per cent of the country’s budget goes towards secondary care), little is left for primary and self-care, which sits at 20 to 25 per cent and up to five per cent respectively.

As such, GS Health suggests that Qatar consider investing more of its budget in the primary and self-care sectors of its healthcare infrastructure. “We believe that Qatar has an opportunity to create a healthcare system that will provide the most effective and advanced health care to its people and to become a model for the world to follow,” GS Health said. “The heart of Qatar’s strategic vision for the future is helping people achieve their full potential, thereby benefiting individuals, their families, the community and the nation.”