Two workers’ hospitals will be opened in 2018 and another one in early 2019 to cater to the healthcare needs of male labourers, a senior official at Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health has announced.
“We are looking forward that in 2018 some of these workers’ hospital will be open one by one, and these hospitals will be focusing on their needs,” Public Health director Dr Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani told Gulf Times on the sidelines of the International Primary Health Care Conference in Doha, which concluded.
He stressed that Qatar has done a lot of efforts to further improve the lives and working conditions of labourers and provide universal health coverage.
Such move paved the way for the International Labour Organisation to close a labour complaint against the country, which vowed to according to Dr Sheikh Mohamed.
Earlier reports showed that these workers’ hospitals will be located in Industrial Areas in Doha, Al Khor and Mesaieed, providing various healthcare services and easy access and travel for a large number of patients staying in these places.
Dr Sheikh Mohamed said such programmes also form part of the Ministry’s aim, in partnership with both the public and private sectors, to develop better and healthier communities.
The country also aims to achieve and meet its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, particularly in the health sector, which falls on Goal number 3: “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”
Qatar is one of two Arab countries that voluntarily report their commitment and achievements on the SDGs, which have 17 goals, 169 targets and 229 indicators for measuring performance.
“All our goals now are aligned with the SDGs, we would like to work on delivering the SDGs as much as we can even faster than other countries,” Dr Sheikh Mohamed pointed out in his presentation titled: “Achieving Healthier Communities: What Public Health Outcomes and Measurements do we need?”
He said that Qatar is “doing very well” based on the indicators listed such as reducing ‘global mortality ratio’ at “very minimum” – one case a year.
Preventive death of new born children under five year old is only six (or less) out of 1,000 in Qatar, which is a good indicator based on the global target.
SDG number 3 aims to end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030.
“Achieving universal health coverage and access to quality essential health are done in our country, we have a system in giving health coverage for everyone,” Dr Sheikh Mohamed said.
“We believe that here in Qatar, people have a universal coverage more than any other country, high quality accredited hospitals, primary health care and private sector,” he added. “We are looking forward to keep giving this luxury, safety and security for our people living in Qatar.”
Dr Sheikh Mohamed noted that the approval of the new cabinet will help them establish a Health Information Department, which will provide important data from the primary health care and other sectors.
