WASHINGTON, March 11 (UPI) -- One-half to two-thirds in Jordan, Iran, Algeria, the Palestinian Territories, Turkey and Lebanon are satisfied with local access to healthcare, a survey says.
A Gallup poll indicated majorities of nationals and Arab expatriates living in Gulf Cooperation Council countries said they were satisfied with the availability of quality healthcare in the city or area where they live.
Satisfaction was highest in Qatar at 90 percent and lowest in Kuwait at 62 percent and Saudi Arabia at 60 percent.
Satisfaction was about half as high in Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, and Yemen, but unlike their neighbors, many of these countries do not have the financial resources to foot the bill for the rising need for quality healthcare, Gallup officials said.
However, governments in Gulf Cooperation Council countries have recently increased their investments in the healthcare industry, including subsidizing a large percentage of nationals and expatriates healthcare needs, even if that means covering the costs for medical tourism to other countries.
But people in these countries are experiencing the same serious health challenges as other countries including obesity, diabetes and heart disease that will remain expensive, Gallup officials said.
The survey involved face-to-face interviews with 1,000 nationals and Arab expats, age 15 and older, conducted in 2011 in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The margin of error ranged from 3.3 percentage points to 3.9 percentage points.
