Health in Arab countries experiences health inequalities that impact access to healthcare. Some of the nation’s such as Comoros and Somalia rank the lowest per capita income, compared to the highest ranking in the region, such as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait (Jabbour, 2013). In that case, for the poor, they experience long waiting list due to the misdistribution of resources, especially in remote areas. As Al Asmri et al. (2019) outline, disadvantaged groups including the elderly, adolescents, and persons with disabilities, face unimaginable difficulties accessing healthcare services.
The pattern of non-communicable diseases (NCD) keeps on fluctuating in this area. Despite the majority of the nation’s having amassed wealth through oil, NCD's mortality reveals country’s that are struggling to better life expectancy. Jabbour (2013) argue that 3 of the top 20 countries have the highest prevalence of obesity, with four out of the world's top -ten diabetes prevalence coming from the region. With low per capita income, adhering to balanced diet with nutritional value is difficult for Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. According to Batniji et al. (2014), the inability to change governance leads to corruption leaving vulnerable populations susceptible to a low quality of life and high chronic illnesses mortality.
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Health is subject to political instability that ravages healthcare funding and the availability of personnel. Countries like Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and Somalia represent the most dangerous places in the world. They also endure excessive use of force by governments making it challenging for international aid, a high number of refugees, misappropriation of funds, and low density of care workers. They also experience sanctions leading to challenges accessing medical supplies. Due to political influence, most health reforms have not taken course. Indeed, Jabbour (2013) argue that total annual health expenditure is less than$50, and access to nurses is 1:10000 making universal coverage a distant goal. Indeed, when a nation does not have a conducive environment, limited resources, endless wars, and controlling central authority adversely impacts healthcare.
References
Al Asmri, M., Almalki, M. J., Fitzgerald, G., & Clark, M. (2019). The public health care system and primary care services in Saudi Arabia: a system in transition. East Mediterr Health J , 25 .
Batniji, R., Khatib, L., Cammett, M., Sweet, J., Basu, S., Jamal, A., Wise, P., & Giacaman, R. (2014). Governance and health in the Arab world. The Lancet (London, England), 383(9914), 343–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736 (13)62185-6
Jabbour, S. (2013). Public health in the Arab World: At a crossroads. Journal of public health policy , 34 (2), 356-360.
