Excellent hospitals that expect to be paid. Insurance is compulsory beyond 30 days and sensible from day one, and the heat is the thing that will actually put you in a clinic.
- Qatari hospitals are excellent and expect to be paid. There is no reciprocal agreement with anywhere, so your EHIC, GHIC or national card is worth nothing here.
- Insurance is compulsory beyond 30 days, bought from a Ministry of Public Health registered provider at about QAR 50 per person per month. A policy from home does not satisfy the law.
- A yellow fever certificate is required if you arrive from a listed risk country, and polio vaccination in some circumstances. There is no malaria in Qatar.
- Heat is the health risk and it is underestimated by almost every first-time visitor. Drink constantly, plan the outdoors for early morning and after dark, and keep children indoors midday.
- Some medicines legal at home are controlled here, including painkillers, sleeping tablets and psychiatric drugs. Check before you fly and carry the prescription and a doctor's letter.
The system
- Qatari hospitals are excellent and among the best equipped in the region.
- Hamad Medical Corporation runs the public system; Sidra, Al Ahli and Aspetar are the well-known private and specialist ones.
- There is no reciprocal agreement with anywhere. Your EHIC, GHIC or national card is worth nothing here.
- You pay up front or your insurer confirms cover before treatment, and the bills are large.
Insurance
- Compulsory for stays over 30 days, bought from a Ministry of Public Health registered provider at about QAR 50 per person per month. A policy from home does not satisfy the legal requirement.
- For a shorter stay it is not compulsory and is still essential, because nothing is free and repatriation is not cheap.
- Check the policy covers desert activities if you plan dune bashing or quad biking, which several exclude.
Vaccinations
- A yellow fever certificate is required if you are arriving from a country on the transmission risk list.
- Polio vaccination is required in some circumstances, depending on where you have travelled from.
- Routine vaccinations should be current. There is no malaria in Qatar and no exotic requirement for arrivals from Europe or North America.
The heat
This is the health risk in Qatar, and it is underestimated by almost every first-time visitor.
- May to September regularly exceeds 45 degrees, with humidity that makes shade almost useless.
- Heat exhaustion presents as headache, nausea and confusion. Heatstroke - when sweating stops and the skin goes dry - is a medical emergency and needs 999 immediately.
- Air conditioning is aggressive everywhere indoors, so people move between extremes all day and catch colds in August.
- Drink water constantly, and add salts if you have been outside for hours.
- Children and older travellers are at greater risk and should not be outdoors midday at all in summer.
Medicines and pharmacies
- Pharmacies are excellent, plentiful and open late.
- Some medicines legal at home are controlled here, including several painkillers, sleeping tablets and psychiatric drugs. Check with the Qatari embassy before travelling and carry the prescription and a doctor's letter.
- Do not assume a medication is fine because it is over the counter at home. This is how ordinary travellers end up under arrest in the Gulf.
Water and food
- Tap water is desalinated and safe though most people drink bottled.
- Food hygiene standards are high and enforced.
- Alcohol only in licensed premises, and never carry it in a car except home from the warehouse on purchase day.
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