Jeddah (UNA-OIC) � A recent report on health in the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) revealed a decline in per capita health expenditure in the OIC countries compared with developing countries outside the Organization and developed countries.
According to the OIC Health Report 2017, issued by the Statistical, Economic, and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), the per capita health expenditure in the OIC countries was $202, which was negatively correlated with the amounts registered in non-member developing countries ($339) and in developed countries ($5,899).
The total health expenditure in the OIC member states was 4.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, compared to 6.2 percent in non-member developing countries and 12.6 percent in developed countries.
Among the OIC countries, the Republic of Maldives spent the most on health care at 13.7 percent of its GDP, followed by Sierra Leone (11 percent) and Djibouti (10.6 percent), while Turkmenistan spent the least on health care (2.1 percent).
The report recorded a significant variation in the per capita health expenditure in the OIC countries, where the United Arab Emirates topped the list with $1,758 per person, followed by Kuwait ($1,617), Bahrain ($1,247) and Saudi Arabia ($1,197). Whilst, Niger ranked at the bottom with $29 per capita, followed by Bangladesh ($32), Togo and Gambia ($37 each) and Pakistan ($38).
The report noted that the coverage of public and private prepaid systems remained very low in the Muslim countries, with 36 percent of the total health expenditure in the OIC member states being financed through individual payments from their own funds, compared to 34 percent in developing countries and 18 percent in the other countries of the world.
Source: International Islamic News Agency